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OWEGO. 



Some account of the early 
settlement of the Village in 
Tioga County, N. Y., called 
Ah-wa-ga by the Indians, 
which name was corrupted 
by gradual evolution into 
Owago, Owega, Owegy, and 
finally Ovvego. 



By LeRoy Wilson Kingman. 



ruhli.-^Iifil at the t)\ve«o Ca/ettfc Office 
Owejio. N. Y. 

1907. 









Only fifty copies of this book are 
printed, of which this is number ^J 



i^^Je 



M-.^^" 



PREFACE. 

The i)u])licati()ii of the matter in 
this book was begun hi the Owego 
Gazette of May o(», 1907, and ran 
through several successive issues. 
Ft is reprinted here with the same 
tyi)e that was used in the newspaper. 
It corrects a few errors made by 
previous writers and adds some 
new hiformation relative to the 
early settlers that has not before 
appeared in ])rint. It contains infor- 
mation obtained thirty years ago 
from early residents, and may be 
useful to some future historian who 
may desire to write a complete and 
satisfactory history of the village of 
Owego. 



EARLY OWEGO. 



The Documentary History Relative 
to the Burning of the Indian Vil- 
lage in the Evening of August 19, 
1779, by Soldiers of the United 
Expeditions of Generals Sullivan 
and Clinton, Previous to their 
Combined Attack upon the 
Indian Settlements in West- 
ern New York, in One of Which 
Regiments Was James McMaster, 
Who Afterward Was the First 
White Man to Settle Permanently 
at Owego — Excerpts from the 
Journals of the Officers in the Va- 
rious Regiments Relating to Their 
Sojourn at This Point. 
The earliest event known in liis- 
tory relating to the village of Owego 
is its destruction by fire in 1779. 
The village consisted of about twen- 
ty substantial log houses, built by 
the Indians. The coming into the 
Susquehanna valley of the de- 
tachment from Gen. Sullivan's 
army in August of that year caused 
the Indians to desert their homes 
and when the soldiers came there 
was not a red man in sight. 

In order to break the power of 
the Indians under Brant in this 
state, the continental congress de- 
cided to make the campaign a na- 
tional one, and it was placed under 
the direction of Gen. Washington, 
who sent one division under Gen. 
John Sullivan from Easton, Pa., 
across the country to the Susque- 



hanna river, and thence to ascend 
the river to Tioga Point (now Ath- 
ens, Pa.) The other division was 
commanded by Gen. James Clinton, 
a brother of the then governor Geo. 
Clinton. Gen. Clinton was at this 
time in command at Albany. He 
was directed to march up the Mo- 
hawk river to Canajoharie, crossing 
from there to Otsego lake, and going 
thence down the Susquehanna river 
to Tioga Point, where the expeditions 
were to unite in a combined attack 
on the Indian settlements in west- 
ern New York. 

Gen. Clinton had between 1,500 
and 1,800 men, 220 boats, and pro- 
visions for three months. When 
Gen. Sullivan reached Tioga Point 
August 13, 1779, Clinton had not 
reached there and being apprehen- 
sive that Clinton might be in dan- 
ger, he detached Gen. Enoch Poor, 
with 900 men and eight day's pro- 
visions, to proceed up the river, as 
a reinforcement to Gen. Clinton in 
case of attack. 

Gen. Poor's detachment reached 
Owego (then called Owegy) August 
17 at 2 p. m. The next day at 6:30 
a. m. it proceeded up the river to 
Choconut (now Union), where it en- 
camped and waited until Clinton's 
army arrived there at 9 a. m. Aug- 
ust 19. At 11 o'clock that day the 
march of the entire body of troops 
began, and it arrived here at sunset. 
The same night the soldiers set fire 
to and burned the Indian village. 
The next day the troops remained 
here all day, as it rained violently, 
and they suffered considerably, as 
they had no tents. 



3 
August 21 the soldiers proceeded 
to Tioga Point. Thence the entire 
army marched to Newtown (El- 
niira). where the battle of Newtown 
was fought August 29 and the power 
of Brant and his Indians was de- 
stroyed. 

It has always been believed, and 
has been so printed, the authority 
being some of the early residents 
of this village, that the old Indian 
village was situated on the north 
bank of the Susquehanna river, be- 
low William street. This is perhaps 
incorrect, as there is documentary 
evidence that the old Indian village 
was on the west side of the Owego 
creek in the present town of Tioga. 

Among the officers of Gen. Clin- 
ton's army was Lieutenant (after- 
ward Major) Erkuries Beatty. In 
his journal of the expedition, which 
is in archives of the New York his- 
torical society, he notes its arrival 
Aug. 19 at Owego "about sundown 
after a very fatiguing march of 22 
miles." The journal continues as 
follows: 

"Friday 20 Rained a lit- 

tle last night and Successively all 
this Day therefore did not move: 
Went a party down to Owego town 
which lies one mile lower down and 
burnt it consisted of about 20 houses. 

"Saturday 21st — Clear weather 
this morning but a very heavy fog, 
niarchd of a little after 7 o'clock 
forded Owego creek which is reck- 
oned one third of the Susquehanna 
at this place, it was about three feet 
Deep & about 50 Yards Wide went 
thro' the ruins of Owego town 
crossed a pretty large brook went 
12 Miles halted at a small Brook one 
hour for refreshment." 

From this it would seem probable 



that the Owego creek was 
wider at its mouth than it is now and 
that the Indian village was on the 
west side of the creek. 

In Clinton's army Lieut. William 
McKendry was quartermaster in Col. 
Alden's Sixth Massachusetts regi- 
ment. In his journal, which is in 
possession of the Massachusetts his- 
torical society, he writes under date 
of August 19: 

* * the army proceeded on and ar- 
rived at Owago about sunset this is 
a large Indian Settlement and fine 
land — Encampt at this place, this is 
the Indian town that Serjt. hunter 
was carried to that was taken 10th 
Novr. last below Cherry Valley on 
this same River as he was returning 
with his Scout — heavy rain this 
night, the Genl. detached a party 
and sent them and burnt the town 
at this place About two miles up a 
little Creek." 

Major Beatty says that the troops 
"marched through the ruins of 
Owago town" after having crossed 
the Owego creek on their way down 
the river, while lieutenant McKen- 
dry says the town was burned "about 
two miles up a little creek." This 
is a little confusing. 

Many other officers in the armies 
of Sullivan and Clinton kept jour- 
nals in which were noted proceed- 
ings of each day. Many of these 
journals have been preserved and 
deposited by the descendants of the 
officers in the collections of various 
historical societies. The following 
are excerpts from some of these 
journals relating to the events of 
August 17-20, 1779, covering the 
brief period of the sojourn of the 
troops in Owego: 

The following is from the journal 



of Dr. Jabez Campfield, surgeon in 
Spencer's Fifth New Jersey regi- 
ment, owned by the New Jersey his- 
torical society. 

"17 Aug., 1779 — The detachment 
marched [12 miles] to an Indian 
settlement about 1 mile below Owe- 
go and encamped on a beautiful 
l)lain covered with grass: just be- 
low we came on the plain, the de- 
tach't crossed a stream of water, on 
which Owego is situated a mile 
above these places were all deserted 
last spring, their inhabitants only a 
few. 

=;; * * 

"Aug. 19 — Tills morning 9 o'clock 
Cenl. Clinton joined us with upwards 
of 200 Boats and about 700 Infantry, 
who marched by land— 2 pieces of 
cannon in ye boats; hisw hole number 
it is said consists of 1,500 men. 11 
o'clock we marched for Owego & 
arrived there at sonset. A party 
was sent out, who burned the town 
of Owego. The few inhabitants, who 
remained there had gone of the 
day before we arrived" 

"Genl. Clinton has burned all the 
towns on or near the river in his 
wa>- down 

"Aug. 20 — A heavy rain came on 
last night, which prevented our 
march this day." 

From the journal of Major Jere- 
miah Fogg, of Col. Poor's New 
Hampshire regiment: 

"17 Marched, at 6 o'clock, i)assed 
through exceedingly good land, and 
at 2 o'clock arrived at Owegy, late- 
ly inhabited by the savages, but on 
the destruction of Onondaga it was 
abandoned, as were all the settle- 
ments on the river above Tioga. 
This is a pretty piece of land through 
which runs a creek about three 
rods wide. A small party were sent 
up to explore, and about a mile up 
the creek found '' horses, but no 
Indians." 

* * * 

"19th. Marcheu at eight o'clock. 



but soon met a sergeant from Gen. 
Clinton, with a letter informing us 
that his army would be at Choco- 
nut brook by five o'clock. Conse- 
quently we countermarched, and be- 
fore night arrived at Owegy, and 
burnt 19 houses. Gen. Clinton had 
about 1,800 men, 208 boats and one 
month's salt provision, with two 
Oneida Indians'' 

"20th. Rained violently, which 
rendered it exceedingly bad for men 
without tents. Remained on the 
ground all day" 

From the journal of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Henry Dearborn, command- 
ing the Third New Hampshire regi- 
ment: 

"17th We march'd early this morn- 
ing proceeded 12 miles to Owagea 
an Indian Town — which was de- 
serted last Spring after planting. 
About town is a number of fruit 
trees & many plants & herbs that 
are common in our part of the 
country here is a learge body of 
clear Intervale cover'd with grass 
Our march to day has been very 
severe & Fategueng especially for 
the left Column (to which I belong i 
as we had to pass several difficult 
steei) hills & bad Morasses. 

"19th Our troops ware put in 
motion very early this morning af- 
ter marching about one mile Genl. 
Poor receiv'd an express from Genl 
Clinton informing him that the lat- 
ter expect'd to be here by 10 o'clock 
a. m. in consequence of which we 
retur'd to our old incampment 
where Genl Clinton Joined us at 
10 o'clock with 2,000 men including 
Officers boatmen &c He has 208 
batteaux with provisions Ammuni- 
tion etc after mutuil congratulations 
& Conii)lyments the whole pro- 
ceeded down the river to Owagea 
& incami)'d. This evening the 
town of Owagea was made a bone 
fire to grace our meeting Our gen- 
eral course from Tiogea to Choco- 
nut is about N. East. 



"20th We have a very heavy 
rain to-do & no tents but we are 
obliged to ride it out" 

From the journal of Captain James 
Norris, of the Third New Hamp- 
shire regiment, in possession of the 
Buffalo historical society. 

"17 We marched Early this 
Morning Proceed 12 Miles to Owa- 
gea an Indian Town which was De- 
serted last Spring after Planting. 
About the town is many Fruit Trees 
and many Plants, and Herbs, that 
are Common in our part of the 
Country; Hear is a large body of 
clear Intivale Covered with Grass. 
Our March to day Very Survear 
and Fatigueing Esspecelly for the 
Left Colm (to which I belong) as 
we had to pass Several Steap Hills 
and Morasse? — 

"19 Our Troops were put in Mo- 
tion very early this Morning after 
xMarching about one Mile Gen'l Poor 
Received an Exspress from General 
Clinton Informing him that the lat- 
ter exspected to be hear by 10 
o'clock a. m. this day in Conse- 
quence of which we Rteurn'd to our 
Old Incamjinient where General Clin- 
ton .Joined us at 10 o'clock with 
two Thousand Men — Including Offi- 
cers, Boatsmen &c. he has two 
hundred and Eight Beautoes with 
Provisions Ammunition &c after Mu- 
tural Congratulations and Comple- 
ments the whole Proceeded down 
the River to Owagea and Incampt 
this evening.the town of Owego was 
made a burnfire of to Grace our 
Meeting." 

It will be noticed that with the 
exception of the si)elling the jour- 
nals of Lieut.-Col. Dearborn and 
Captain Norris are almost exactly 
alike, word for word. 

From the journal of Capt. Daniel 
Livermore, captain in Third New 
Hampshire regiment, owned by the 



New Hampshire historical society, 
the following is taken: 

"Tuesday, August 17. This day 
the troops march early. I march 
on the flank guard. The country is 
very mountainous, with some fertile 
valleys. At 4 pm we arrive at a 
considerable Indian town, called 
Owago, 14 miles. Here is a very 
good tract of land both sides of the 
Fiver. The town consisted of about 
twenty houses, which we destroyed, to- 
gether with considerable Indian corn, 
whch is in the milk just fit to roast 
The town appears to have been 
evacuated but a little time. 14 
miles. 

"Thursda, August 19. This monn- 
ing we hear another gun up the 
river, but, no intelligence arriving-, 
the troops are ordered to march, 
and proceed about one mile, when 
our spies, sent off last evening,meet 
us with intelligence of Gen. Clin- 
ton's being near. 

We then return to the place of 
our last encampment. At 10 a. m. 
Gen. Clinton arrives with about — 
boats and 1,.500 men. We imme- 
diately proceed on the march for 
Tiego. At sunset arrive at the old 
encampment at Owago, and encamp." 

.James McMaster, who was the 
first white settler in the village of 
Owego, first came here as a soldier 
m the Second New York regiment 
in the Sullivan expedition. The 
colonel of the regiment was Philip 
VanCortlandt. 



A Chronology of the Settlement of 
Owego Village Previous to the 
Year 1830, with Some Account of 
Amos Draper, the Indian Trader, 
Who Was the First Settler Here 
in the Spring of 1787, and of His 
Descendants and His Brother, Jos. 
Draper. 

The years in which some of the 
earliest settlers came to Owego and 
its vicinity are given below. This 
includes the business and profes- 
sional men who canie here as late 
as 1830 and previous to that year. 
The date of the arrival of many 
others is not accurately known, so 
they are not included in the list, 
which is as follows: 

1787. Amos Draper. 

1788. .James McMaster, .John Mc- 
Quigg, .lesse McQuigg. 

1789. Ephraim Wood, .Joseph Gas- 
kill. 

1790. Capt. Lemuel Brown, Eman- 
uel Duel. 

1791. Col. David Pixley, Capt. 
Luke Bates, Abuer Turner, Mason 
Webster, Moses Ingersoll. 

1792. Capt. Mason Wattles, Dr. 
Samuel Tinkham, .John Hill. 

1794. Joel Farnham. 

1795. Dr. Elisha Ely. 

1799. Stephen Mack, E])hraim 
Wood, Nathaniel Sackett. 

1800. Thomas Duane, Eleazer 
Dana. 

1801. .John Hollenback, Gen. .John 
Laning, John H. Avery, Nathaniel 
Catlin. 

1802. John Pumpelly and his 
sons, James, Charles, Harmon, and 
William Pumpelly; Noah Goodrich, 
Eliakim Goodrich, Gen. Ansel Good- 
rich. 

1803. Elizur, Geo. L., and Charles 



lO 

Talcott, Daniel Cruger, Jr., Cai)t- 
Sylvenus Fox. 

1804. Gen. Oliver Huntington. 
.Joseph Berry. 

1805. William, Nathan, Ausou.and 
Hermon Camp, Major Horatio Ross, 
.Jonathan Piatt. 

1806. Caleb I^each, Ephraim 
Leach, Stephen B. Leonard. 

1808. Capt. David Fleming, Gen. 
Robert Fleming. 

1809. John R. Drake. 

1810. Dr. Godfrey Waldo. 

1811. Dr. .ledediah Fay. 

1812. Richard E. Cushman. 

1814. Isaac Lillie. .rohn Ripley, 
Col. Henry McCorniick. 

1815. Stephen Strong. 

1816. George W. HoUeuback, Dr, 
Joel S. Paige. 

1817. Col. Amos Martin. 

1818. Jjorenzo Reeves, Elisha 
Bmidy, Abner Beers, David Beers. 
David Turner. 

1819. John Cannichael. 

1820. Ziba A. Leland, Erastus 
Meacham. 

1821. Robert S. Bartlett and his 
sons, Joseph , Isaac L., and Robert 
S. Bartlett, Jr. 

1822. James, Almon S., and Sam- 
uel Archibald. 

1823. Gurdon Hewitt. 

1824. Dr. Ezekiel B. Phelps, Cof. 
Benoni B. Curry. 

1825. Asa H. Tniman, Ezra S. 
Sweet. 

1826. John M. Greenleaf. 

1827. Edward R. Warner. 

1828. James Cameron, Thomas 
Farrington, Francis Armstrong. Al- 
anson Munger, PJdward Raynsford, 
James N. Eldridge. 

1829. Dr Ezekiel Lovejoy. Aaron 
P. Storrs, John Dodd, Albert R. 
Thomas, Charles C. Thomas, Jacob 
Hand. 

1830. Charles and Printice Ran- 
.som, Lyman Truman, Chester Dana. 

AMOS DRAPER. 
The first white settler at what is 
now the village of Owego was Amos 
Draper, who came here as a trader 



11 

among the Indians and who by his 
integrity obtained their friendship 
and confidence and had great influ- 
ence over them. He was a son of 
Major Simeon Draper, who was one 
of the "forty" settlers at Kingston, 
Pa., in the Wyoming valley under 
the Connecticut claim, and who set- 
tled there in 176S. 

Amos Draper had been living a 
few years in a temporarily construct- 
ed house on the south bank of the 
Susquehanna river on the flat called 
the old Mersereau flat at Choconut. 
nearly opposite Union. His family 
came there from Kingston in the fall 
of 178(5. 

During that year Mr. Draper 
l)uilt a log house at Owego. it 
stood on the eastern part of the lot 
■on which (Jurdon H. Pumpelly's 
house now stands in west Front 
street and was about one hundred 
feet from the bank of the river. It 
faced south on the old Indian trail, 
which then ran along the bank 
l)retty closely. This Indian trail 
struck the river about a mile above 
the bridge where the river road runs 
nearest to the river bank. Continu- 
ing down the river it followed the 
bank to the mouth of the Owego 
creek. In building this house Mr. 
Draper brought the boards for the 
floor u]) the river by canoes from 
Kingston, Pa. 

In May, ITST, the Drapers removed 
to Owego and began living in their 
new house. While living here Mr. 
Dra])er continued his business of 
trafl[icing with the Indians at Cho- 
onut. The first winter of their resi- 
dence here a christianized Oneida 



12 

Indian chief and his wife, who bore 
the title of Queen, lived in the 
house with Mrs. Draper, and acted 
as her protectors. 

Mrs. Draper's maiden name was 
Lydia Williams, and at the time of 
her marriage she lived at Kingston. 

Several years afterward the 
Drapers lived in another log house 
which stood a little back of where 
Mrs. John Brown's residence now 
stands at the northwest corner of 
Main and Mc Master streets. 

Amos Draper's brother, Joseph 
Draper, was a later comer here. He 
was a surveyor. The brothers were 
entirely unlike. The late William 
Pumpelly, who knew them well, in- 
formed the writer that Joseph 
Draper was a loud talker and very 
self-assertive, while Amos Draper 
was the reverse in every respect — a 
quiet man and esteemed by every- 
body. 

Amos Draper's daughter, Selecta 
Draper, was the first white child 
born at Owego. She was born June 
19, 1788. She became the wife of 
Stephen WilMams.of Newark Valley, 
in 1809. He was born at West Stock- 
bridge, Mass., in 1783, and came 
with his father, also named Stephen 
Williams, to Newark Valley in 1801. 

Amos Draper had two sons, Amos 
and Benjamin Draper, and two 
daughters, Selecta and Catherine 
Draper. Amos Draper, Jr., died 
near Victor, N. Y., and Benjamin 
at Fairfax Court House, Va. Cath- 
erine became the wife of Ewart 
Williams. Selecta died April 2, 186;i. 
at the home of her son, Lucius 
Ewart Williams, at Newark vallev. 



13 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
Steplien Williams lived at Newark 
Valley, then known as Brown's set- 
tlement, where they pnrchased a 
farm and built a house. At the 
time of Mrs. Williams's death, in 
1X65, the house was occupied by the 
widow of Chester Patterson. Mr. 
Williams died at Newark Valley 
-luly 6, 1859. At the time of Mrs. 
Williams s death six of of her ten 
children survived her as follows: 

Catharine Minerva, married Am- 
l)rose Collins, of Berkshire. 

Dr. Charles Draper, of St. Paul, 
Minn. 

Horatio Spencer, of Woodhull, 
N. Y. 

Myron Milton, of St. Paul, Minn. 

.Josei)h Edwin, of Cleveland. Ohio. 

Lucius Ewart, of Newark Valley. 

Mary married Elisha Hurd, of 
Aurora, Ohio. 

Amos Draper died in this village 
May 24, 1808. At that time the vil- 
lage burying ground was at the 
present corner of Main and Court 
streets, and extended south to about 
the east line of the lot on which the 
new Tioga county clerk's office now 
stands. Mr. Draper's body was 
buried where the old clerk's offlce 
stood, between the present jail and 
the old academy buildings. When 
men were digging for the founda- 
tion wall of the first clerk's office, 
in 1825, they cut through Mr, 
Draper's grave. 

Lucius E. Williams, of Newark 
Valley, is a son of Stephen Williams 
and the last survivor of ten children. 

Joseph Draper was unmarried. 
He died of consumption at the home 
of Lucius E. Williams in 1832 or 
1833, and his body was buried in 



14 

the Newark Valley cemetery. Mr. 
Williams has an oil portrait of 
Joseph Draper. A historical society 
should be organized in Owego and 
this portrait and other portraits of 
early settlers should be gathered to- 
gether for preservation. 

JAMES MC MASTER. 

James McMaster was the second 
white man to settle permanently at 
Owego. He first came here as a 
soldier in Gen. Sullivan's army in 
1779, and made his permanent set- 
tlement here in 1788. the year fol- 
lowing the coming of the Drapers. 

It is erroneously stated by judge 
Charles P. Avery in his "Susque- 
hanna Valley" papers in the "St. 
Nicholas" magazine (page 303) that 
James McMaster's knowledge of the 
general character of the valley was 
acquired while a soldier in the army 
of Gen. Clinton on its way down the 
Susquehanna river to meet Gen. 
Sullivan's forces. This error has 
been copied in all the local histories 
sin(ie written. 

At the time judge Avery wrote 
his papers the military records of 
this state had not been printed. Mc- 
Master had been dead thirty-fiv-e 
years and judge Avery's information 
seems to have been obtained from 
some of his descendants whose 
knowledge was traditional and un- 
certain. 

In "New York in the Revolution." 
a large quarto volume compiled 
from state records and published at 
Albany in 1879 by James A.Roberts, 
then Comptroller of this state, a full 
list of the officers and men of the 
various New York regiments, taken 



15 
from the records, was published. In 
1898 a second and more complete 
edition of the book was published 
by Mr. Roberts. 

On page 29 of the second edition 
is the roster of the Second New 
York regiment commanded by Col. 
Philip Van Cortlandt, and on page 
:'.5 James McMaster's name appears 
as a private in this regiment. 

On page 342 of the book on the 
"Military Expedition of Major-Gen- 
eral John Sullivan against the Six 
Nations of Indians in 1779," compiled 
by Frederick Cook, Secretary of 
State and publisued in 1887, are 
given lists of the regiments in both 
Clinton's and Sullivan's armies in 
this expedition, and the Second regi- 
ment is among those in the army of 
Sullivan. On page 327 of the same 
))ook a list of the officers of the 
Second regiment is ab'O given. 

It ai>pears plain that McMaster 
was in Gen. Sullivan's army instead 
of Clinton's. 

James McMaster was a farmer. 
When he came to Owego with Sulli- 
van's army in the summer of 1779 
the flat land east of the Owego creek 
seemed so desirable for farming pur- 
poses that he determined to settle 
here. 

In 1784 he was living on a farm 
(jwned jointly by himself and his 
brother.David McMaster, in Florida, 
Montgomery county, about fourteen 
miles above Schenectady and a mile 
and a half from the Mohawk river. 
In April of that year he and another 
brother, Robert McMaster, in com- 
pany with 'William Woods and John 
Nealy, and with William Taylor, a 



16 
boy eight years old, who had beea 
indentured to James McMaster as a 
"bound boy," started for Owego. 

The previous winter a large boat 
had been obtained at Schenectady 
and taken thence to Canaj'oharie on 
the ice and from there to the bank 
of Otsego lake. There the boat was 
launched and a part of the party 
embarked with a wagon, provisions, 
plows, farming implements and cook- 
ing utensils, while another party 
went with four horses by land, fol- 
lowing the Indian trail to the foot of 
the lake. Thence they all proceeded 
together, following the Indian trail 
to Owego. They met many parties of 
Indians on their way, who seemed 
|)eaceably inclined. but met no white 
man. 

They were fourteen days on their 
jouniey, arriving here on the first 
day of May, one party by boat down 
the river and the other by land. At 
night while on their way the boat 
was moored uniformly at some jjlace 
on the river, j)reviously appointed, 
and thus the whole party, as well 
for safety as for comfort, tooK their 
evening meals and passed their 
nights together. 

On the flat west of what is now 
McMaster street there was but lit- 
tle forest, and the land had been cul- 
tivated some by the Indians. Mc- 
Master's party at once set fire to 
the dried grass, and burned over the 
entire surface of the ground, the 
flames extending over the site of 
Owego and for a considerable 
distance beyond. They built a tem- 
porary cabin of pitch pine logs on • 
the flat, about fifty rods above where 



17 
the electric light plant now stands, 
which sheltered them until their 
com planting was done on about 
ten acres in the vicinity of the pres- 
ent Ta^cott street. 

After the planting was completed 
they erected a more substantial log 
house near the bank of the river on 
the lot where the residence of "George 
W. Thompson now stands, and this 
was the first building erected for 
permanent use by the nands of white 
men in this portion of the Susque- 
hanna valley. 

After the com hoeing season was 
over the whole party returned with 
three of their horses and a quan- 
tity of beaver skins which they had 
received from the Indians in ex- 
change for their fourth horse to the 
valley of the Mohawk, for the pur- 
pose of attending to their harvest- 
ing there. That having been accom- 
l)lished they returned later and har- 
vested their crop here, which had 
not been molested by the Indians, 
with whom they had established 
friendly relations. The crop was 
taken in boat loads to Tioga Point 
(Athens, Pa.) and securely cribbed, 
after which the party returned to 
the Mohawk valley for the winter. 

In 1785, the year after the corn 
planting expedition, James McMaster 
returned to Owego. It was in June 
of that year that four agents of the 
Massachusetts purchase, a body of 
230,400 acres of land lying between 
the Owego creek and the Chenango 
river awarded to Massachusetts and 
since known as the Boston Purchase 
or Ten Townships, came here and 
found McMaster in possession. Mc- 



.Master clainied ownership of whai' 
was subsequently known as the Mc- 
.Alaster half township, on which the 
village of Owego is now situated, 
by contract with the Indians, 
in which claim he was sus- 
tained by Amos Draper; and their 
influence was such with the Indians 
that in order to conciliate them and. 
obtain possession the agents were 
compered to satisfy McMaster's claim- 
by giving him eighteen square miles 
of land extending from the Susque- 
hanna river on the east side of the 
Owego creek eighteen miles north, 
and from the Owego creek on the 
north side of the river eastward, a 
distance of six miles. The particu- 
lars of this transaction are fully 
told in the "Susquehanna Valley" 
papers in the St. Nicholas maga- 
zine, page 301. 

James McMaster did not settle 
permanently here until 1788. Then 
he and his family settled in a 
house which stood near where the 
main highway on the old Indian 
trail ran along the river bank at 
Its intersection with the old Cayu- 
ga Lake trail which trail was iden- 
tical with the present McMaster 
street and extended down to the 
river. This house faced the river 
and stood near where Michael A. 
Lynch's house now stands. The 
house was afterward occupied by 
Dr. Samuel Tinkham and later by 
.lames Pumpelly. 

The family of John McQuigg came 
the same year from Massachusetts. 

The late Lyman C. Draper, of 
Madison, Wis., secretary of the 
Wisconsin state historical society, 



19 

ipurchased in ISTtl of the heirs of 
the late judge Avery the mami- 
scripts containing interviews with 
early residents ot southern New 
York relative to the Indian history, 
much of which was used in writing 
the Susquehanna Valley papers. In 
a letter to the editor of this pai)er 
written in October of the following 
year Mr. Dra])er wrote that he had 
been for some time collecting ma- 
terial for a new life of Brant, the 
Indian chief, and that the Avery 
papers had been purchased with 
others to aid him in that purpose, 
but that these papers did not con- 
tain much concerning Brant, but 
more of the local history of this 
region. After Mr. Draper's death 
the papers became a part of the 
manuscrijit collection of the Wis- 
consin historical society. The fol- 
lowing is a list of the more im])ort- 
ant of them: 

Mrs. Whitaker's account of her 
caiitivity among the Indians (1778.1 

Dances and other Ceremonies of 
the Iroquois: character of the In- 
dians. 

Mrs. Whitaker's reminiscenses of 
Brant and other chiefs. 

Memoirs of Sebastian Strope and 
his family. 

Narrative of Abel Hart. 

Narrative of Way-way alias 
Betsy Douglas. 

Statements of the following pio- 
neers (accounts of their own or 
their parents' adventures): Jesse 
McQuigg, John Gee, Mrs. Caty 
Harris, Lawrence Merriman, Jona- 
than Terry. Elisha Forsyth. 

Mrs. Caty Harris, mentioned in 
the last paragraph, was a daughter 
of James McMaster. The Avery in- 
terview with her was a very brief 



one, and the following is a verba- 

tlon copy of it, as copied from the 

original in the Wisconsin historical 
society's collection: 

Statement of Mrs. Caty Harris. 
June St--, 1853. 

Maiden name Caty McMaster, 
daughter of Jas. (patentee.) 

Came to Owego when four or 
five years old with my father's 
family: 

Oldest brother Jas. 

Next Jeremiah. 
David. 

Oldest sister Jane Sackett, wife 
of Caleb H. Sackett. 

Sister Elida McMaster, dead. 

Sister, Caty McMaster. 

Sister, Ann Fish, dead. 

Robert McMaster was a brother 
of old James and moved on at 
same time with Jas. He married a 
Bates, a sister of Elisha Bates. 
Thos. McM., another brother, came 
on afterwards. 

Electa Draper (now Williams) 
first white child born at Owego. 
Amos Draper's family first white 
family at Owego. 

Recollects the Indians used to be 
there in bands; had wigwams near 
iier father's house. They were 
peaceable and friendly as could be. 

My mother, Rachel, died .'!0 years 
ago in Candor, my father died in 
Candor. They are buried on the 
farm now owned by Hiram Smith, 
not enclosed. 

My father was a tall man, not 
fleshy, large boned, about six feet 
high. He paid the Indians for their 
land. He held the council with 
them near where his house was. 
(The particulars of this treaty have 
never transpired. C. P. A.) 

I was born on the Mohawk. I 
iiave had 7 children. 

These are my grandchildren. 
(Pointing to two boys.) 

My father built the house once 
occupied by Jas. Pumpelly. 

The first house he built was near 



21 

the river and in-etty nearly bacli 
•of the Pumi)elly house. 

I believe my father was in the 
army under Genl. Clinton and 
came down the river. In that way 
I think he must have been ac- 
fiuainted with the valley of the 
river. 

At the time of this interview Mrs. 
Harris lived in the town of Cayu- 
ta. Schuyler county. It was from 
this interview that Judge Avery, 
probably, obtained the misinforma- 
tion that McMaster was in Clin- 
ton's army. James McMaster's 
wife's name was Rachel. Their 
children were as follows: 

.lames McMaster, .Jr. 

Jeremiah McMaster. He married 
Hannah Hill, a daughter of John 
hill, one of the first settlers of the 
town of Tioga. He died at Spen- 
cer. His death followed the ampu- 
tation of his leg on account of a 
fever sore. His daughter, Eliza 
McMaster, married Leonard Jones, 
who came from Peekskill, N. Y., 
with his father, John Jones, and 
settled at Spencer between ISOit 
and 1805. John B. Jones, who lives 
in East Temple street, Owego, is a 
son of Leonard Jones. 

David McMaster. 

Jane McMaster. Married Col 
Caleb H. Sackett and lived at 
Candor. She died near Almond, Al- 
legany county. 

Elida McMaster was unmarried. 
She died in 1843. aged 63 years. 
Her body was buried at West Can- 
dor. 

Catherine McMaster. Married 

James Harris, a blacksmith, who 
was born in the north of Ireland. 
Tliev lived near VanEtten, Che- 



mimg county. Both were buried at 
Spencer. She was 80 years old at 
the time of her death. 

Ann McMaster. Married a man 
named Fish. It is said that she 
died at the county poor house. 

James McMaster was a man of 
improvident habits, and although 
the owner of property that with 
judicious management would have 
made him immensely wealthy, it 
gradually passed from his hands 
and he died thirty years after his 
settlement here in reduced circum- 
stances. 

One day in ISIS, while living at 
Candor, where his daughter, Mrs. 
Sackett, lived, he borrowed a horse 
of a neighbor to ride to Spencer to 
visit one of his sons. He had gone 
but a short distance when the horse 
shied and he was thrown to the 
ground, breaking his rios. He was 
taken into Selah Gridley's house, 
where he died a few days after- 
ward. His body was buried on 
the Caleb Sackett farm. Tlie 
grave was plowed over many years 
ago. The farm was subsequently 
cut up into village lots and this 
grave was on the back part of the 
lot on which Mrs. Alvah Fullers 
house now stands. 

COL. DAVID PIXLEY. 
The first settler of any import- 
ance in the eastern part of the 
town of Tioga was Col. David Pi.x- 
ley, who came from Stockbridge. 
Mass., in 1791. The same year 
Abner Turner came from Massachu- 
setts and settled at the confluence 
of the Owego and Catatonk creeks. 
Both Col. Pixley and Mr. Turner had 



been here previously on exploring 
tours. 

Col. Pixley was born at Stock- 
bridge, Mass., March 2t, 1741. His 
father, whose name was also David 
Pixley, was born at Westfield, Mass., 
in 1S14, and was a soldier in the ex- 
pedition against Cape Breton in 
1745. He settled at Stockbridge be- 
fore 1749. Col. David Pixley fought 
in the Revolutionary v,ar and had 
a fine military record. His record 
as obtained from Massachusetts ar- 
chives by one of his greatgrandsons, 
.losiah Collins Pumpelly, now living 
in New York city, is as follows: 

He was a first lieutenant, as by 
Lexington Alarm Call Rolls, April 
19, 1775, in Capt. William Goodrich's 
company. Col. Patterson's regiment, 
from Stockbridge to Cambridge. 
Thirteen days service. Enlisted again 
May 5, 1775, for eight months' ser- 
vice from Stockbridge. Time of ser- 
vice three months, four days. Com- 
missioned May 27, 1775, captain in 
col. John Brown's regiment. En- 
listed June 30, 1777; discharged 
July 26, 1777. Twenty days' service 
in Northei-n Department. 

In the lists of the officers and men 
of the regiments in the line in the 
United States service under Gen. 
Washington, as given in "New York 
in the Revolution," Lieutenant David 
Pixley's name appears (page 61) as 
in the corjjs of "Green Mountain 
Boys." The colonels were Ethan 
Allen and Seth Warner, and John 
Brown was major. The editorial ex- 
planation heading this list says: 

"These muster-rolls are recorded 
as "Major Brown's Detachment," and 



that detachment is mentioned as in 
"Gen. Arnold's Regiment." (The only 
mention of Gen. Arnold found in 
our records.) The fact that the 
"Green Mountain Boys" were at 
Quebec in 1776; that this detach- 
ment was also at Quebec in 1776;, 
that two of the officers on these 
rolls-Captain and Commissary Elijah 
Babcock and Captain Robert Coch- 
ran — are identical in name and rank 
with those on a list handed to the 
{Provincial Congress of New York 
by Ethan Allen and Seth Warner, on 
.Inly 4, 177.5, as officers for the 
Green Mountain Boys; ana the fur- 
ther fact that none of the men are 
recorded in any other place, or witli! 
any other organization, all confirm 
the belief that the soldiers on its 
rolls herewith were a part of that 
historic band." 

The muster roll of the men of Lieut- 
tenant Plxley's company in the Mas- 
sachusetts archives at the State 
House in Boston contains the names 
of twenty Indians. 

David Pixley was commissioned a 
colonel in the colonial army July 1. 
1775. His commission bears the sig- 
nature of John Hancock, President. 
His regiment was in Gen. John Pat- 
terson's command at Bunker Hill, 
and he was under Gen. Montgomery 
at the seige of Quebec. 

There has been privately printed 
a circular giving the genealogy of 
Dr. Tinkham, Col. Pixley's son-in- 
law, and showing Dr. Tinkham 's de- 
scent from Miles Standish, who 
came to America in the Mayflower 
in 1620. In this it is said that 
Lydia Patterson, Col. Pixley's sec- 
ond wife was a "daughter of Col. 
John Patterson, colonel of the in- 
fantry regiment in which David 
Pixley was first lieutenant in the 



25 
revolutionary army." This is an 
error. She was a daughter of 
.Joseph Patterson, who was born at 
Waterbury, Mass., in 1810 and died 
at Richmond in 1780. 

Col. John Patterson (afterward 
Gen. Patterson) was a man of 
ability and prominence. He was 
born in 1844 at New Britain, Conn., 
and was educated at Yale college. 
He taught school, studied law, and 
liecame a justice of the peace. In 
1774 he removed to Lenox, Mass., 
where he became a member of the 
jjrovincial congress. Just before the 
Revolution he raised a regiment 
among the neighbors of Berkshire 
county, and on the day before the 
battle of Lexington and Concord he 
ordered his men to be ready to 
ii:arch at sunrise the next morning. 
He participated in the battle of 
Bunker Hill, holding the fortifica- 
tions at Somerville, which protected 
the rear of the American forces,, 
and shared the hardships and adven- 
tures of the seige of Boston. In the 
ill-starred expediti on toCanada under 
Montgomery and Arnold he lost the 
greater part of his men, and later 
with the remnant of his command 
he participated in the victories of 
Trenton and Princeton, and as a 
Ijrigadier-general in 1877 he had 
charge of Massachusetts troops in 
the campaign under Gen. Gates, 
which ended with the capture of the 
British army under Burgoyne. 
He was a member of 

the court-martial that tried and 
condemned Major Andre. He was 
afterward in command of West 
Point, and even after peace was de- 



16 

dared he was retained there witi? 
his brigade and was not mustered 
out until December 8, 1783. Iii 
1786 he assisted in the suppression 
of Shay's rebellion. In 1791 Gen. 
Patterson removed to Lisle, Broome 
county, N. Y., which was then a 
part of Tioga county. He was a 
member of assembly in 1792-3, mem- 
ber of congress in 1803-5, member 
of the constitutional convention in 
1801, and the first judge elected in 
Broome county in 1806, the year 
that county was set off from Tioga 
county, and he filled the offlce until 
his death in 1808 at Lisle. A mon- 
ument was afterward erected in his 
memory on the town square at 
Lenox, Mass. 

.Josiah Col' ins Pumpelly says his 
researches have convinced him that 
the company recruited by Patterson 
and Pixley did not reach Boston 
until a day or two after the battle 
of Bunker Hill was fought. If his 
conclusions are correct another idol 
would appear to have been irrepar- 
ably shattered. 

Col. Pixley was one of the sixty 
original proprietors of the "Boston 
Purchase or Ten Townships." He 
first came into this part of New 
York state as one of the commis- 
sioners appointed by the Boston 
company to treat with the Indians 
and obtain title to 230,400 acres of 
land, between the Owego creek and 
the Chenango river for which the 
company had paid £1,500 to the 
state. The commissioners met the 
Indians two or three miles above 
Hinghamton in the winter of 1787-88 
The particulars of this treaty with 



ttie Indians may be found in Wil- 
kinson's "Annals of Binghamton" 
(page 39-40) and in Judge Avery's 
' riusquehanna Valley" papers in the 
St. Nicholas Magazine, page 29!;». 

By deed from Archibald Camp- 
bell, of the city of Albany, dated 
December 22, 1790, Col. Pixley ob- 
tained title to 3,000 acres of land in 
what was then known as "Campbell's 
Location" in the town of Tioga, 
bounded east by the Owego creek 
and south by the Susquehanna 
river , "consideration five shillings 
and other good causes and consid- 
erations." The amount originally 
l)aid for this property is said to 
have been fifty cents an acre. 

Col. Pixley removed with his fam- 
ily from Stockbridge to Owego Feb. 
6, 1791, and settled on his property. 
In May, 1791, he sold to Abner Tur- 
ner, who came here that year, 49% 
acres on the west bank of the Owe- 
go creek where it meets the Cata- 
tonk creek. March 17, 1802, he sold 
4.j1 acres on the Owego creek, in- 
cluding his own homestead, to Ca])t. 
Eliakim, Noah, and Asa Goodrich for 
$.5,000. He then removed to Owe- 
go ana lived in the old farm house 
which is still standing on the south 
side of Main street, west of and 
adjoining the Owego academy 
grounds, and there he died in 1S07. 
On the headstone of his grave in the 
Presbyterian church yard in Tem])le 
street is the following inscription: 

"In memory of Col. David Pixley, 
who departed this life Aug. 25. 1807, 
in the 67th year of his age. He 
was anofficerofthe Revolution atthe 
seige of Quebec under Gen. Mont- 
sionierv. He was the first settler 



28 

of Owego in 1790 and continued its 
father and friend until his death." 

When Col. Pixley settled on the 
west side of the Owego creek that 
town was known as Owego, and the 
east side of the creek was known as 
Tioga. The confusion arising from 
having the village of Owego in the 
town of Tioga on the east side of 
the creek was so annoying that in 
1813 the names of the towns of Owe- 
go and Tioga were exchanged, the 
one for the other, as they now ex- 
ist. 

Col. Pixley was county treasurer 
of Tioga county from 1798 to 1803, 
the only civil office he ever held 
here. 

Col. Pixley's first wife was Lois 
Whittlesey, who was married to 
him December 8, 1763. His second 
wife was Lydia Patterson, daughter 
of James Patterson. She was born 
at Watertown, Mass., in 1745, and 
died in Owego February 2, 1808. 
Mrs. Lydia Pixley was a woman of 
unostentatious piety and unbounded 
hospitality. While living at Stock- 
bridge. Mass., her house was a 
home for strangers, especially for 
the missionaries and ministers of 
that early day. After her death an 
extended sketch of her life and tri- 
bute to her character was published 
in the Connecticut Evangelical Mag- 
azine tor October. 1808, at page 336. 

When Col. Pixley came to Owe- 
go from Massachusetts he brought 
his wife and three children, David. 
Amos, and Mary. 

David Pixley, .Jr., was born at 
Stockbridge in 1764 and was the 
only son of Col. David Pixley by his 



29 
tirst wife. He married Drusilla 
Bond. He was onl.v 3-". years old 
wlieii lie died in the town of Tiogii 
-Tune 6, 1799. His body was the 
first one buried where the Tioga 
cemetery now is, which was tlien in 
the woods. His wife died June 1, 
1822, aged 57 years, and her body is 
also buried there. 

David Pixley, Jr., was a surveyor. 
He was one of tne most influential 
of the proprietors of the "Boston 
Ten Townships." His children 

were Charles B., Jeremiah, Mary 
Ann, David, and Jonathan. He lived 
on the west side of the Owego 
creek, a little less than half a mile 
below Leach's mill. 

Amos Pixley died previous to the 
death of his father in 1807, leaving 
a wife and one son, Walter. Wal- 
ter died unmarried. 

Mary Pixley was married to Dr. 
Samuel Tinkham about the year 
1793. Her second husband was 
James Pumpelly. 

One of the sons of David Pixley, 
Jr., Col. Charles B. Pixley, was 
l)orn in 1792, the year after the re- 
moval of his father to this county. 
He was at one time a hatter and 
kept a store in Lake street where 
he sold musical instruments, sta- 
tionery, etc. He lived in Bingham- 
ton several years, where he mar- 
ried a sister of John A. Collier. He 
died Aug. IS, 1S6.5, at the home of 
his sister, Mrs. Alanson Goodrich, 
in the town of Tioga. 

Mary Ann Pixley, born in 179(;. 
married Alanson Goodrich, son of 
Capt. Eliakim Goodrich, and died 
April 22, 1875. 



30 

Jeremiah, Jonathan, and David 
Pixley all removed to Oakland 
county, Mich. David Pixley's witV 
was Fidelia Jones, daughter of dea- 
con Solomon Jones. 

At the time of Col. David Pix- 
ley's death he was the owner of 
nearly 9,400 acres of land all of 
which except 130 acres were situ- 
uated outside the village of Owego. 

CAPT. JOHN MC QUIGG. 

The families of both James Mc- 
Master and Captain John McQuigg 
settled at Owego the same year 
(1788), the year after Amos Draper, 
the first comer, settled here. 

Captain John McQuigg was of 
Scotch-Irish descent. The family 
settled at Derry, N. H., coming 
with the first Scotch people to New 
England. He was one of eight 
brothers, all of whom fought in the 
Revolutionary war. The father was 
a patriot, while the mother sympa- 
thized with the tories. The conse- 
quence was that while John and 
three of his brothers enlisted in the 
service with the revolutionists tiie 
other four brothers fought on the 
side of Great Britain. John Mc- 
Quigg was captain of a company in 
a New Hampshire regiment. One 
brother died in the old sugar 
house in New York, a prisoner of 
war. 

Capt. John McQuigg came from 
Derry, N. H., with his family, then 
consisting of his wife and eight chil- 
dren, entering the Susquehanna val- 
ley by the way of Otsego lake and 
following the Indian trail to Owe- 
go. What impelled him to come 
with his large, family such a dis- 



tauce through an unsettled country 
into a wilderness no historian has 
explained. 

He built a log house on the site 
of the Camp furnace, below Park 
street. It fronted on the river, as 
did also Draper's and McMaster's 
houses, and the road ran along the 
old Indian trail between it and the 
stream. Its description, as given to 
.ludge Avery by one of his sons, 
Capt. Jesse McQuigg, who was five 
years old when the family came 
here, will be given further on in 
taese papers. 

The genealogical record of the 
McQuigg family was written by Miss 
Mary Hall, of Spencer, N. Y., and 
printed in the Spencer Needle of 
August 3, 1905. 

.John McQuigg's first wife was 
Mollie Gilmore. Their son was John 
M. McQuigg. His second wife was 
Sarah Coburn, of New Hampshire. 
Her children were as follows: 

1. Mary McQuigg born 8 Feb., 
1774. Married Abner Turner, of 
the town of Tioga. 

2. Daniel McQuigg born 23 Feb., 
1.7(3. 

3. Elizabeth McQuigg born 23 
March, 1778. Married Capt. Lemuel 
Brown, of Owego. 

4. Robert McQuigg born 9 No- 
vember, 1780. Unmarried. Died in 
Owego . 

5. Jesse McQuigg born 24 May 
1783. 

6. Sarah McQuigg born 13 Aug., 
1785. Married George Lord Talcott, 
of Owego. 

7. Patience McQuigg born March 
27, 1787. Married first Richard Den- 
ton, of Danby, and second Peter 
Yaple. 

8. David McQuigg born 27 Nov., 
1791. 

9. Rachael McQuigg born 5 Jan., 



52 

179;J. Married Lieut.-Col. \Vm. HeurA' 
and lived at Mineral Point, Wis. 

10. Jane McQuigg born 15 Aug.. 
1795. Married Comfort Weeks, of 
Owego, Removed to BulTalo and 
(hence to Pittsfield, 111. Comfort 
Weeks and his brother, Constant X, 
Weeks, kept a shoe store in Owego, 

11. Didama McQuigg bom 7 Oct.. 
1798. Married William Watson and 
Jived at Pittsfield, 111. 

John ^McQuigg died in Owego in 
ISlo, twenty-five years after his set- 
tlement here, and his body was one 
of the first ones interred in the old 
burying ground in Court street. His 
wife, Sarah McQuigg, died Nov. 1«. 
1832, aged 85 years. Her body was 
buried in the Presbyterian burying 
ground in Temple street. 

When James Master, for a con- 
sideration of £10, gave a deed of 
land for a public park on which the 
Tioga county court house now stands 
to the village of Owego (then known 
as Owego settlement) dated Febru- 
ary 28, 1797, John McQuigg was 
named in the deed as one of the 
three trustees for the people. The 
other trustees were Capt. Luke 
Bates and Mason Wattles. Sept. 4, 
1813, after the death of Bates and 
McQuigg, a special election was held 
and Eleazer Dana and John H. 
Avery were chosen their successors. 

John McQuigg's eldest son, John 
M. -McQuigg, was bora Oct. 13. 
1771, and he was seventeen years 
old when the family came here. He 
removed to Spencer about 1898. 
where he became a prominent man 
of the town. He died there Aug. 13, 
1812. His wife was Lucy Lee, who 
after his death was married to Rev. 
Michael Burge, an itinerant Metho- 



33 
dist minister. John McQuigg. one 
of the sons of John M. McQuigg, 
represented Tioga county in the as- 
semljly in 1S42, and died at Spen- 
cer 29 Nov.. 1ST2. 

Daniel and David McQuigg also 
removed to Spencer about 17SS. 
Daniel married Charlotte Hobart, 
daughter of Edmund Hobart, of Con- 
necticut, one of the first settlers of 
Spencer in 1795. He died there in 
1833. 

David McQuigg removed in June, 
1S04, from Spencer to Ithaca and 
opened a store there. He dropped 
a portion of his name and was 
known the rest of his life as David 
Quigg. His was the first store op- 
ened at Ithaca. He was successful 
in the mercantile business and con- 
tinued in it the rest of his life.- 
David Quigg's wife was Harriet 
Pumpelly, a daughter of John Pum- 
pelly. 

Capt. Jesse McQuigg fought in 
the war of 1S12. He was never 
married. He and his mother, with 
Lemuel Brown's widow, lived in a 
house which was built in 1800 on 
the Abram Brown farm, north of 
Talcott street, which house was 
n^oved away about sixty years ago 
and converted into a barn when 
Abram Brown's residence was built 
there. When Abram Brown's 

father, Capt. Lemuel Brown, the 
tanner, who married Capt. Mc- 
Quigg's sister, died Richard Brown 
and Capt. Jesse McQuigg conducted 
the tannery business. Capt. Mc- 
Quigg died at the home of his 
nephew, Abram Brown. 



One of the most interesting of 
the iiapers in the Wisconsin 
state historical society's collection 
obtained by Lyman C. Draper from 
the heirs of Judge Avery is the 
statement made by Jesse McQuigg. 
to Judge Avery. Some of it was 
published in the Susquehanna Vay- 
ley articles, but most of it has- 
never been printed. The statement, 
is as follows: 
STATEMENT OF JESSE MCQUIGG 

MADE APRIL 1, 1851. 

I shall be 68 years old the 24th 
of May ensuing. I came to live at 
Owego in March, I think 1788. 

My father, John McQuigg, had 
been on the year before in March- 
and raised some corn and had put 
up a house on the site of the build- 
ing now occupied by Henn,' W.Camp 
as a funiace. It was a log house 
with two square rooms, hewed logs, 
chinks filled in with bits of wood 
between the logs and mudded, a 
hole in each room in the place of 
a window, no glass in them; we 
didn't indulge in that luxui-j'- Split 
pine logs, hewed off for a floor, a 
chimney back built of stone with 
a hole in the roof for the smoke 
to ijass out and with a stick chim- 
ney mudded from the roof up. A 
wood fastening to the door with 
the latch string hanging out as was 
always the fashion. It fronted up- 
on tile river. The highway ran be- 
tween it and the river; not much 
of a road, only what nature made. 
My father came from the Merrimac, 
in the state of Massachusetts; came 
by the way of Otsego lake, down 
to where Unadilla and Bainbridge 
are now. Came with ox teams 
and sleds. There was still snow 
enough for slipping in that month 
(March.) I presume we followed 
the Indian trail. 

James McMaster came on to live 
here j)ermanently the next month 



after my father come on. Wm. 
Taylor came on to live permanently 
here in three or four years after. 
He had been here before. 

Amos Draper's was the first white 
family that came to Owego to re- 
side permanently. They lived in 
the house which had been put up on 
the lot about where George Bacon 
resider,. He came from Wyoming. 

I heard of aji incident connected 
with his moving into the house. 
Two Indians came as had been in 
■a quarrel about the time of the 
Revolutionary war. One had killed 
the other, and an old squaw, ttie 
wife of the dead Indian, had dug 
a hole under the floor and put him 
under. This was the same house 
Draper afterward moved into. It had 
been previously occupied by the In- 
dian family. Mrs. Draper would not 
go into the house until the remains 
of the Indian so buried had been re- 
moved. 

James McMaster's house was on 
the bankofthe river, near where Chapel 
street [now Academy street], if con- 
tinued through to the river, would 
strike the river. That was called 
in olden times "the Lake road," 
from the fact of its leading toward 
Cayuga lake on the Indian trail. The 
road on the river bank between my 
father's house and the river ran 
until it intersected the Lake road, 
McMaster's house was nearly in the 
angle made by tne two roads. 

Robert Mc Master was then a 
young unmarried man and boarded 
with his brother, James. Thomas Mc- 
Master, another brother, lived in a 
house standing near where Joel 
Farnham's house n':w is. He did 
not come on as eaily as the other 
brothers. 

Robert McMaster, after he mar- 
ried a Miss Bates, a daughter of 
Benjamin Bates, built his first log 
house on what is now Draper's Res- 
eration. It stood a few feet from 
the Mansion house [on the west 
side of North avenue, between West 
avenue and Talcott street], a little 



36 

south of it. I Jived with him about 
a year afterward. 

There were three families by the 
name of Bates lived in Owego. 
Among the early settlers Elisha 
Bates, a son of old Benjamin Bates, 
was about six feet in height, un- 
commonly active, could outrun any 
man. We had games and ran to 
test agility in those days. Hunting 
was his business. He was a great 
marksman. 

The deer ran as plenty as sheep. 
One might start from the river and 
go as far up the creek as Turner's 
and see on the way twenty or twen- 
ty-five, and perhaps as many as that 
in a drove. We killed them as we 
wanted them. We could hear the 
wolves howl in the night. In the 
winter season w/ien they had driven 
the deer into the river they would 
stand upon the banks and howl. 
The bears were plenty back upon 
the mountains. 

We used sometimes to see a dozen 
Indians, sometimes fifty, and some- 
times one hundred together, passing 
from here to Tioga Point, Chenan- 
go Point or Cayuga lake. Some- 
times an interval of two weeks 
when we would not see any but a 
few families who still continued to 
reside in this vicinity in their wig- 
wams. Some of them were Onon- 
dagas, some Cayugas, some Senecas. 
They often used to speak of Brant. 
He was their great man. There was a 
treaty at Tioga Point (the year 1 
don't recollect) between the agents 
of the government and the Indian 
tribes.* 



*Note by Judge Avery.— The year was 1790. It 
was held by Col. Timothy Pickering and Thomas 
Morris, -son of Robt. Morris, the financier of the 
Revolution, upon whose ability Botta has passed 
a beautiful euloKy and to whose memory we owe 
jrreat honor. At that treaty at Tioga Point, Red 
Jacket. Sa-Koye-wat-ha, and Farmers' brother. 
Hon-ne-ya-mus. and other distinguished chiefs 
were present. The council fire was kept burning 
one week. There were more than 1.600 Indians 
present, representing all the tribes of the con- 
federacy exceiJt the Mohawk, thoseof that nation 
having after the war removed to Canada, The 
object of the treaty on the part of our govern- 
ment was to conciliate, there being at that time 



The most of the 'lulians who as- 
sembled thore came from the head 
waters of this [the Susquehanna I 
river. I saw them coming down in 
their canoes, saw them first at the 
the bend in the river above the vil- 
lage. There were several hundred 
canoes, some four to six Indians in 
a canoe; a good many squaws and 
young Indians among them. The 
canoes were of bark. 

It was a handsome sight as they 
approached the village: they came 
in such fine order. They came in 
a solid body and with great regu- 
larity and uniform movement, some 
of them ornamented with feathers, 
some with jewels, covered with 
broaches generally of silver, gener- 
ally with white woollen blankets 
with heavy stripes. Some had broad 
cloth blankets. 

The Indian men were generally of 
pretty good stature. They had their 
rifles, tomahawks, and scalping 
knives with them,pipes and their kind 
of tobacco. They all landed here and 
cooked and ate their breakfast. 
They commenced landing at or near 
my father's house (that is near H. 
W. Camp's furnace), and so along 
down as far as Jas. McMaster's 
house. Between the two houses was 
on open plain, beautiful and green. 
They were very good natured. They 
were there all for peace. Their de- 
vices were cut in upon their orna- 
ments, worked into their garments 
with porcupine quills and painted 
on. There ajipeared to be leaders 
or chiefs among them. 

Leggins, loin, cloths, blankets, 

great danger of a war with the natives upon our 
northwestern frontier. We were taking this 
method of inducing the Iroquois not to throw 
their weight into the scale against us. We were 
in the main successful, although Col. Pickering 
found great difficulty in allaying the hot blood 
which Red Jacket had aroused by one of his 
powerful appeals to their bitter memories of 
wrong. This speech it is said was his maiden 
effort in eloquence and alike astounding his red 
as well as white listeners. It almost baffled Col. 
Pickering's best efforts at conciliation, but he 
did at length, after great exertion, succeed in 
touching their sympathies for the young re- 
public. 



38 

head dress, moccasins, and orna- 
ments were their costume. The 
women carried all the bundles and 
did all the work. Saw their wam- 
pum belts made of beads. 

The Indian Nicholas and his squaw 
lived on the other side of the river 
on the flat by F. H. Pumpelly and 
Jacobs Hand's mills. He claimed to 
be the owner of the whole flat. He 
raised cattle and corn, had quite a 
stock of cattle, etc. He was a Dela- 
ware Indian. As ^jon as the Dela- 
ware settlers commenced moving in- 
to the valley he moved off. He was 
afraid they would take revenge up- 
on him for some past occurrence. 
He hau been a great warrior against 
the whites on the Delaware. He was a 
heavy man, nearly six feet high. 
His squaw was fine looking for an 
Indian woman. She made very 
sweet butter. She -"vould not allow 
herself to speak English. She did 
so, however, once. There was a 
man drowning and she informed a 
white man on the bank where he 
had sunk. Squaw island was named 
from her. 

The first shad we caught in the 
river was at Squaw island and taken 
with a brush net. I never knew 
any other name for Nicholas than 
that. He would authorize his name 
to be signed ' Nicholas." 

David Jones was the first lawyer 
who settled at Owego. He came 
from New Haven. He was a very 
fine man and well esteemed (I was 
pleased to discover, as you doubt- 
less are, that our pioneer lawyer 
bore that good reputation). 

One season I fitted a couple of 
acres of corn for an Indian family 
to plant. It lay b<^tween my pres- 
ent residence and the creek. The 
name of the Indian was Peter. It 
was well put in bv him and turned 
out a crop of forty l)ushels to the 
acre. I had one-half. They pre- 
served their half i)) tracings, which 
was done by stripping the husk 
to the large end of the ear, braid- 
ing the husks together. The In- 



39 

diaiis usually put about a bushel of 
ears in one tracing. I found them 
seed, but when it ripened I found 
the Indian had planted seed of his 
own, without my knowing it. of large 
kernels, which we called "flour 
corn," better adapted for Indian bread. 
It was probably tb-^ species called 
"Tuscarora." The great trouble with 
the Indians was their appetite for 
strong drink, as they called it "fire 
water." 

The Indians all looked up to Amos 
Draper as a God. He had more in- 
fluence with them than any other 
man in the country. The Boston 
purchasers had a conference at Nan- 
ticoke with the Indians to procure 
from them a cession of the land em- 
braced in the fenTownships. They 
could bring the Indians to no terms 
until Draper came. He was sent 
for to bring auout an arrangment. 
The Indians called him "Qua-see" 
(Big man.) 

The treaty had to break up until 
Draper had mingled with the In- 
dians for three days. There was 
then another treaty and the pur- 
chase from the Indians was effected. 
There was a great number of In- 
dians there. The chiefs of the con- 
federacy were all there, all the prin- 
cipal men of that confederacy. This 
account I had from Draper. We see 
by the Resolve of Massachusetts 
that it was June, 1786. t 

There was near that house an 
Indian wigwam. There was former- 
ly a mound near where the home- 
stead property of the late Eleazer 

tNote bv Judge Avery.— Mr. McUuigg had the 
account from Mr. Draper some few years of 
course after the treaty, which was in June. 17H6. 
and he mav not have reniemhered accurately the 
place where the treaty was held. I have heard 
from other sources and have read, but where 
now I cannot recollect, that the council was first 
opened near Binghaniton. No terms at first 
agreed upon, then resumed at Chenango Forks, 
where a treaty of cession was fully concluded. 
I am however disposed to give credence to Mr. 
McQuigg's versioti. Binghamton was not within 
the Boston purcha.se. Nanticoke was, and it is 
not probable that the purchasers woiUd liked to 
have foregone the advantage which a treatx- 
made upon the soil, of which they were purchas- 



40 

Dana [the lot on the north side of 
Front street where the residence of 
Lewis H. Leonard now is) 

in area some forty by fifty feet, 
rising gradually to the centre, at 
which point it must have been ela- 
vated above the surrounding sur- 
face about some six or eight feet. 
It was a beautiful spot before it 
was disturbed. It was smooth and 
beautiful. I have rolled down it 
when I was a boy many a time. 
. There were some young pines scat- 
tered about, not far off. 

There might have been fift.v or 
sixty acres in the lower part of the 
village that had been cleared and 
tilled; some other portions partially. 
The scattering trees which were left 
growing along the bank were very 
large oaks, elms, and maples. 

The battle betw'?en Gen. Poor's 
brigade and the Indians at the 
Round Hill at Nanticoke I heard 
of from the Indians who passed and 
repassed here. It was a bloody bat- 
tle, but the Indians were driven off 
the eastern side of the hill, which 
is stee]). into the river. 

It was through the influence of 
Amos Drai)er that -las. McMaster 
was enabled to buy the title of the 
Indians to this Half Township. 
Joseph Knox also helped him. Knox 
was an early settler here. 

.las. McMaster, Draper, and Knox 
held their treaty for the cession of 
the Half Township, but before the 
treaty made and sjjoken of above 
by the Boston purchasers. 

There was one Indian chief of the 
Oneida tribe I remember well. His 

iii>4 tile iM)-.srssoiy interest, would liave Kiven to 
til" in It \\.i^ llie rivrlit of original occuiiancy, a 
,M,v>, ^sMi\ iiitriest tliey were seekiiiK to pur- 
i-li;i->( Tilt unveriiinent of New York and Mass" 
achnseUs liavinK. respectively, the one exchisive 
rivjhtof pre-emption and the other the jurisdic- 
tion incident to sovereiiruty. a constructive title 
ceded to us by Eunland by the treaty of 1783, it 
havinx orivrinally vested in her. by discovery, a 
kind of title con.sidered by the nations of Europe 
in their practice as no way inferior to the risjht 
by concpiest. 

The purchasers were then extinguishinK a 
piisscssory rijfht. and it would have been more 
natural and i)erhaps safer to have done so on the 
soil the.\' were then purchasing of the occupants. 



41 

name was Longstring. He remained 
at this place some time a month. 
He had a white boy with him at 
this place, then upwards of twenty 
years old. who had been taken a 
captive when young and his friends 
from the North riv^r came on here 
to induce him to leave the Indian 
chief and return to his relatives, 
and were at length successful. He 
always walked by the side of the 
chief, dressed in the same mode and 
with the same kind of medal or brooch 
upon the breast, and the same or- 
naments. The Indian chiefs son 
had not the same privilege; he 
walked behind. The Indian chief 
appeared once a week in full dress 
and with considerable parade. 

I saw the interview when the 
father of the young man came from 
the North river to reclaim his son. 
I saw the parting of the young man 
with his Indian father and mother. 
They were all bathod in tears,, and 
it was very affecting. The young 
man said that they had been as 
kind as white parents could have 
been to him, that h-^ had never even 
had the burden of carrying a deer 
skin from the hunting ground. His 
arm was around his Indian mother's 
neck and he wept bitterly. 

The parting occurred near the 
bank of the river where Paige street 
intersects River street in the upjier 
l)art of the village.* 



*Note by Judge Avery. — The practice of the Iii- 
tliaiis was to adopt youiiK captives into some 
family of the tribes. It was Renerally done when 
there had been a death in the family of some 
favorite child, the foster child being received 
into the place of the deceased and treated with 
the ntmost kindness and attention. The ro- 
mantic case of Mary Jamieson and that exceed- 
ingly romantic and interesting case of Frances 
Slocum, taken captive from the Susquehanna 
valley, near Wyoming, are in point. Undoubt- 
edly Queen Esther's was al.so a similar cast. 
.\fter thus having adopted a child they con- 
sidered it displeasing to the C.reat Sjiirit to suf- 
fer a separation, which will account for the foster 
parents clinging in this instance with such per- 
tinacity to the ado])ted child. 



42 
DR. SAMUEL TINKHAM. 

Dr. Samuel Tinkham was the first 
man educated and graduated from a 
college to settle in Owego. He was a 
graduate of Dartmouth. He was born 
at Middleboro, Mass., July 17, 1769, 
and came to Owego in 1792. He was 
the first physician to settle in this 
vicinity. He settled in the town of 
Tioga in what was later known as 
Goodrich settlement. He lived in a 
house which stood on the hillside 
north of the highway which runs 
parallel with the Erie and Lehigh Val- 
ley railroads. It was a little above the 
railroad crossing. He lived there un- 
til 1804, a short time previous to 
his death. All of his three 
children were born there. When he 
removed to Owego he lived in the 
house on the south side of Front 
street, which was built by .James Mc- 
Master, which has already been men- 
tioned in these papers. Dr. Tinkham 
built an office on the opposite side of 
the street, which was after his death 
occupied as a land office by James 
Pumpelly. 

In addition to practising medicine 
Dr. Tinkham kept a general country 
store in a building on the bank of the 
river, on the second lot west of where 
the bridge now crosses at the foot of 
Court street. This store stood on 
land owned by Col. David Pixley, his 
father-in-law. In 1803 Dr. Tinkham 
purchased the property of Col. Pixley. 
It occupied the ground on which the 
aijproach to the bridge now is and 
extended down the river below Acad- 
emy street. 

Dr. Tinkham ))urchased other real 
estate much of which is within the 



43 
present limits of tliis village. One of 
the largest pieces was lot Xo. 2 in the 
old Owego town plot. Its north 
boundary started from about where 
the brick school building stands in 
Temple street and extended west in 
a direct line to the Owego creek 
striking it at the head of the canal 
which supplies the electric light 
works with water. The south line be- 
gan on the north bank of the Susque- 
hanna river, a little below Academy 
street, and ran parallel with the nortli 
line of the lot to the creek. The 
creek was the west line, and the east 
line extended diagonally from the 
Temple street school house directly 
south to the northwest corner of the 
park and thence on to the river be- 
low Academy street. This land Dr. 
Tinkham purchased in September, 
1792, for about $250 of the loan offi- 
cers of Tioga county. It contained 
100 acres, less lo acres in the south- 
east corner which had been sold by 
Amos Draper to Mason Wattles. 

Dr. Tinkham's store and a dwelling 
house were side by side under the 
same roof in a long building fronting 
on the public square. While conduc- 
ting the store Dr. Tinkham lived all 
the time in the town of Tioga until 
1804. 

Dr. Tinkham died twelve years af- 
ter his coming to tnis county. In 
September, 1804, he went to New 
York to purchase goods for his store, 
and when he returned he found that 
a malignant and contagious fever had 
broken out, which other physicians 
did not understand. He was called 
to the house of Peter Wilson, two 
miles above Newark Valley village, 
on a |)rofessional visit. On his re- 



44 
turn he was taken ill with the fever 
and was unable to sit in his saddle, so 
he stopped at the log house of Ben- 
jamin Sparrow (the first house below 
the present north line of the town of 
Owego, on the west side of the high- 
way), where he grew rapidly worse 
and soon died. The date of his death 
was Sunday, Sept. 30, 1804. He was 
only 35 years of age. 

While living in the town of Tioga 
he married Mary Pixley, the only 
daughter of Col. David Pixley, about 
the year 1793. At that time in this 
sparsely settled country there were 
few clergymen and no magistrates. 
It is said that Dr. Tinkham and Miss 
Pixley rode on horseback down the 
river t6 Tioga Point (now Athens. 
Pa.), where sitting on horseback the 
marriage ceremony was performed by 
a justice of the peace, who stood at 
the door of his house. On April 7, 
1805, six months after Dr. Tinkham's 
death, his widow was married to 
James Pumpelly, at Owego. 

Dr. Tinkham was a descendant in 
the fifth generation of Miles Standish. 
who came to America in the "May- 
flower" in 1620. 

Miles Standish's son, Alexander 
Standish.married Sarah Alden, daugh- 
ter of John Alden, who also came in 
the "Mayflower." 

Their son, Ebenezer Standish, mar- 
ried Hannah Sturtevant. 

Their son, Moses Standish, of 
Plympton, Mass., married Rachel 
Cobb. 

Their daughter, Sarah Standish. of 
Halifax, Mass., married Ephraim 
Tinitham, and their son was Dr. Sam- 
uel Tinkham. The children of 
Ephraim Tinkham were as follows: 



45 

1. Abigail Tinl^liam. l)oni 20 July. 
175S. Married Caleb Leach, of Ply- 
mouth, Mass., who came to Owego in 
1806. She died July 2. 1818. 

2. Samuel, died when two vears 
old. 

0. Joshua Tinkham. 

4. Sarah Tinkham. b 11 Sei)t.,17<i;;. 
Married Peter Wood and came to 
Owego. Their daughter. Patience, 
married Sylvester Farnham. 

5. Ejjhraim Tinkham. 

6. Susanna Tinkham. 

7. Dr. Samuel Tinkham. 

Mrs. Sarah E. Gibson, of this vil- 
lage, a granddaughter of Dr. Samuel 
Tinkham, owns her grandmother,Mrs. 
Mary (Pixley) Tinkham's. family 
bible. It was i)rinted in Edinburg. 
Scotland, in 17;i:!. and contains the 
record of her children as follows: 

1. Sarah Emilv Tinkliain, born 
Jan. 19. 170."). 

2. Standish t'.eorge Tinkham, born 
May 29. 179:). 

:■!. David Tinkham. born Nov. 22, 
180^!. 

Sarah Emily Tinkham was the fir.st 
wife of William Pumiielly to whom 
she was married in June, isu. Slie 
died in Owego March ?.l. 1822. leav- 
ing one child. Emily S. Pumpelly. who 
liecame the first wife of William H. 
Piatt. 

Standish George Tinkham was later 
known as Samuel Standish Tinkham. 
March 20, 1836, he married Lois Wil- 
loughby, and died Nov. is, 1873. He 
wa.s a merchant and a miller. He 
left one son. Dr. James H. Tinkham. 
a surgeon in the United States navy, 
who died June 2, 1879, unmarried. 

David Pixley Tinkham n^arricd 
June 8. 1826, Harriet G. Drake, daugh- 
ter of Judge John R. Dralce and 
died in Owego August 10. is:;6, leav- 
ing three children, Sarah V:.. who was 



46 
married to Edward G. Gibson ; Ari- 
anna A., who became the wife of Gen. 
Wm. P. Innes, and John F. Tinkhani. 
Although a college graduate he fol- 
lowed mercantile pursuits. He kept 
a general country store in a wooden 
building which stood at the northwest 
corner of Front and Lake streets. 
This store was moved to the west side 
of North avenue, nearly opposite 
South Depot street, where it was oc- 
cupied for several years as a dwelling 
house by Edward W. Raynsford, and 
a few years ago was converted into a 
hotel and called the European house. 
In its place on the Lake-Front street 
corner Rollin block was built, which 
was burned in the great Are of 1S4^). 
Dr. Samuel Tinkham has been de- 
scribed as a man of upright character, 
cordial and unassuming in his man- 
ners. In 1803 he was elected treas- 
urer of Tioga county and held that of- 
fice at the time of his death. 

CALEB LEACH. 

Nearly all the earliest settlers of 
Owe go had been soldiers in the revo- 
lutionary war, and some of them • 
were commissioned officers. Caleb 
Leach who came here in 1806, saw 
service in that war. He was born in 
1755 at Plymouth, Mass., and was the 
eldest son of Peter Leach, who is sup- 
posed to have come from England 
and who died at Halifax, Mass.. 
in 1744. 

In early life Caleb Leach, who was 
possessed of considerable inventive 
genius, was apprenticed to a watch 
maker. July 8, 1775, when twenty 
years of age, he enlisted from Bridge- 
water for eight months in Capt. 
James Keith's company in the 28th 



regiment, comiiianded by Col. Paul D. 
Sargent. At the expiration of his 
term of service he re-enlisted for one 
year, and marched into Boston in 
1776. He was taken ill with small 
pox and sent to Brooklyn hospital. 
Upon his recovery he marched to 
Hell Gate, where his company had a 
skirmish with the British troops. At 
White Plains he was taken ill with 
bilious fever and was sent to Stam- 
ford hospital, and thence home on a 
furlough. Sept. 10, 1777, he again en- 
listed at Halifax in Lieut. .Tesse Stur- 
devanfs company, marching to Al- 
l)any, N. Y., to guard military stores, 
and while there was transferred to 
Capt. Amos Cogswell's company in 
Col. James Wesson's Eight Massachu- 
setts Continental line. They mar,ched 
to near Trenton, N. J., then to White 
Marsh, Pa., and thence to Valley 
Forge, where they joined Gen. Wash- 
ington's army and wintered. He 
served three years in Col. Wesson's 
regiment, the last ten months being 
sergeant in charge of field armory, 
and was discharged Sept. 10, 1780. 

Upon leaving the army Mr. Leach 
returned to Halifax and resumed 
business as a watch and clock makei-. 
While thus engaged he made the first 
orrery that was ever made in America. 
This orrery was presented to Brown 
university by Dr. Fobes, who was 
pastor of a church at Rayham, Mass., 
and at the same time a lecturer be- 
fore the university. 

In 17!:t6, with .Joshua Thomas and 
others, he organized the Plymouth 
aqueduct company and constructed 
the works, which are said to have 
l)een the first water-works construct- 



4H 

ed in America, and which continued 
to furnish water to Plymouth until 
1855. These works he built under 
contract, using conduits, bored out to 
from two to four inches in diameter. 
For boring these logs he invented the 
screw auger and the machine for 
which he received a patent from the 
United States, dated April 13. 1797, to 
run fourteen years. The patent was 
signed by .John Adams, president. 
The first screw auger he invented is 
preserved in Plymouth Hall, with the 
name of the blacksmith who made it 
for him attached. 

In 1799, at the solicitation of Aaron 
Burr, DeWitt Clinton and others, he 
went to New York city and built the 
^Manhattan water-works, upon whose 
charter the Manhattan bank was 
founded. He was superintendent of 
these water-works until his removal 
to Owego in 1806. 

One day in the fall of 1906 some 
laborers were excavating a trench at 
the Intersection of Wall and Water 
streets when they unearthed a black- 
ened log of wood, with a hole bored 
throught it. There was some specula- 
tion as to what it had been used for, 
but finally Guy Duval, of Brooklyn, 
whose office was near there, inden- 
tified it as one of the oak pipes of the 
Manhattan water company. It was as 
sound as when laid a century pre- 
vious. He had it sawed into sections 
and each section bound with brass, 
one of which he gave to editor of the 
Brooklyn Eagle, labelled as follows: 
"Section of one of the first water 
i)ipes laid in New York by the Man- 
hattan company in 1779, dug up at 
Wall and Water streets in 1806. Pre- 



49 

stilted to Dr. St. Clair McKelway by 
Guy Duval." In James Parton"s "Life 
of Aaron Burr" may be found an in- 
teresting account of tlie l)itter par- 
tisan fight between the Federalists 
and Re])ublicans over the establish- 
ment of the Manhattan bank, to ac- 
complish which the water-works were 
built. 

In ISOO and 1801 Mr. Leach built 
the first Fairmount water-works in 
Philadelphia. In 1803 he was inter- 
ested in the .Jamaica Pond Aqueduct 
company of Boston. In constructing 
water-works lAIr. Leach became pos- 
sessed of what was considered hi 
those days a handsome competence. 

Mr. Leach and his brother-in-law. 
Dr. Samuel Tinkham,who had settled 
at Owego in 1792, had purchased land 
here jointly, and Dr. Tinkham was, 
probably, influential in inducing Mr. 
Leach to come here. In a letter writ- 
ten by him to Mr. Leach, dated Sept. 
Tj, 1801, Dr. Tinkham writes: The 
deed of your lot is made out and will 
be completed in a few days. The 
crops on the farm are tolerably 
good. Wheat is likely to be plenty 
in this country this season, and we 
hear that it bears a good price down 
the river. If you should think proper 
to make sale of your farm I believe 
there will be an opportunity within 
a twelve month. 

This farm of 253 acres in the town 
of Tioga was sold by Col. David Pix- 
ley June 30, 1800, to Polly Tinkham 
(Dr. Samuel Tinkham'swife and Col. 
Pixley's daughter) for a consideration 
of $100. The same property was 
deeded Aug. 7, 1800 by Dr. Tinkham 
to Caleb Leach, consideration $l,r).")0. 



April 2.J. 180G, Mr. Leach bought oi:' 
Henry Stewart 140 acres of land on 
the Owego creek, partly in the town 
of Tioga, to which he added other 
land in IS] 2. There he built in 1809 
a grist mill, saw mill, woollen mill.and 
a distillery. The distillery he soon dis- 
mantled and abandoned. The saw 
mill was burned later, and the wool- 
len mill was burned in 1S.55. 

When Mr. I^each came to Owego 
he lived in the building on the south 
side of Front street, opposite the 
park, in a part of which was Dr. 
Tinkham"s store, and remained there 
until 1809 when he built the mills 
and his residence in the town of Tio- 
ga. The house stood on the west 
side of the highway west of the mills. 
It was rebuilt about 1822 and re- 
mained there until this year (1907) 
when it was torn down. 

A few years after the death of his 
wife Mr. l^each divided his property 
among his children, reserving a 
small income, and retired from busi- 
ness. For his service in the army 
he received a pension dated March 
4, 1831, of $96.66 a year. At about 
this time he went to Utica to live with 
his youngest son. Dr. Ebenezer Leach, 
where he died March 18, 1837, aged 
82 years. His body was buried in the 
Friends' burying ground at New Hart- 
ford, about four miles from Utica. 

Caleb Leach and Abigail Tinkham. 
daughter of Ephraim Tinkham, of 
Aliddleboro, Mass., were married Jan. 
17, 1782, at Plympton, Mass. She died 
July 2, 1818. Their children were as 
follows: 

1. Ebenezer Leach born 3 Sept., 
1782; died 31 January, 1796. 



51 

2. Abigail J.eacli born T.t March. 
1785; died 24 Dec, 1795. 

3. Dr. Caleb Leach. .Ir., born 17 
Nov., 1786: married Harriet Duane. of 
Owego. 

4. Ephraini T^each born 10 Oct., 
1788 at Plymouth, Mass.; married 
Sophia Jones, of Owego, 4 Jan., 181:i. 
Died February 19, 1855. On the day 
of his funeral the annual festival of 
the Pioneer Historical Association of 
the Susquehanna Valley was being 
held at Ahwaga hall. Judge Avery an- 
nounced his death and said that the 
funeral procession would arrive fro:u 
Tioga at the Presbyterian churcli 
yard at o :'.',() o'clock when his ac- 
quaintances and friends would have 
an opportunity of paying the last tri- 
bute of respect to his memor,\-. 
Ephraim Leach was a man of scien- 
tific attainments. He planned and 
constructed the first bridge across 
the river at the foot of Court street 
in 182S and he designed and con- 
structed the first fire engine used in 
Owego, in 1S:1(), He conducted Leach's 
mills until his death, after which one 
of his sons, Stephen W. Leach, con- 
ducted them until Stephen's death 
in April, 1899. 

fi. Samuel Tinkham Leach, born 
19 Sept.. 1792; married Clarissa Hart, 
of Candor; died 22 May, 1838. 

7. Dr. Ebenezer Leach (2) born 
IS March, 1797; married Olive Fos- 
ter, of New Hartford, X. Y.; died at 
Utica 21 July, 1861. 

8. Abigail Leach (2) bf)rn 6 Oct.. 
1S(I2; died 5 August, ISo:!. 

CAPT. MASOX WATTLES. 
The first man to engage in the mer- 
cantile business in Owego after the 
coming of the white people from the 
east was Cai)t. Mason Wattles. He 
fame with his wife and two small 
daughters from the town of Franklin, 
Otsego county. X. Y., in 1792. the 
same year that Dr. Samuel Tinkham 
came from Massachusetts. He was 
then forty years of age. and he had 



52 
accumulated considerable wealth. The 
Wattles were refined and cultivated 
l)eople. 

Captain Wattles was born ilarch 
3, 1752, in New Hampshire, but the 
place of his birth i« not known. At 
the time of his enlistment in the Con- 
tinental army in 1775 he was enrolled 
as a resident of Newcastle, Maine. 
His military record, as obtained from 
Massachusetts archives, as follows: 

June 24, 1775, he was a member of 
Capt. Samuel Cobb's company in Col. 
Thomas Nixon's Fourth Massachu- 
setts regiment of infantry. In August 
he was a sergeant in the same com- 
pany. In November he had been pro- 
moted to ensign From Jan. 7, 1777, to 
Dec. 31, 1779, he ranked as a lieutenant 
in the Sixth Massachusetts infantry. He 
was taken a prisoner of v/ar May 17, 
1779. While thus a prisoner in the 
hands of the British he was deprived 
of any opportunity for further pro- 
motion, but in June, 1781, having been 
exchanged and having rejoined his 
regiment, in which there was a 
vacancy, he was promoted to captain, 
liis api)ointment to date from April 
13, 1780. His name last appears in a 
return of officers entitled to the com- 
mutation of five years' full pay in lieu 
of half pay, agreeable to act of con- 
gress of March 22, 1783; rank, caji- 
tain Sixth Massachusetts regiment, 
commanded by Col. Benjamin. Tupjx r. 

After the revolutionary war he was 
appointed major in a regiment of Mas- 
sachusetts state militia. After his re- 
moval to Otsego county, N. Y., he was 
commissioned captain of a company 
of light infantry in 1792. He resigned 
this captaincy soon afterward upon 
removing to Owego. 



53 

When Capt. Wattles came to Owegi) 
he invested largely in real estate, and 
at one time owned what is now some 
of the most valuable land in the vil- 
lage, occupied by brick blocks and 
handsome residences. He was the 
owner of the entire square now 
bounded by Front, Main, Lake, and 
Court streets, with the exception of 
the ground occupied by the county 
buildings and the old academy. He 
also owned an acre lot at the north- 
east corner of Main street and North 
avenue, on which Otis S. Beach's 
drug store and other buildings now 
stand, and an acre at the northeast 
corner of Front and Lake streets, now 
occupied by \V. B. Partridge's drug 
store and other buildings. The tier 
of lots on both sides of Front street 
extending from Church street to 
Paige street was also his property, 
and he owned many other lots in 
other parts of the village, which are 
now occupied by valuable residences. 

The Wattles family lived in a house 
which Capt. Wattles built on the 
north side of Main street at what is 
now the northeast corner of that 
street and Central avenue. Tliis 
liouse was afterward the residence of 
.Judge Latham A. Burrows, and later 
of David P. Tinkhani. It was occu- 
liied by Mr. Tinkham's widow, Mrs. 
Harriet G. Tinkham. until it was re- 
moved in INIKi, when the Park hotel 
was built in its place. 

It is not known where Cai)t. \\':\t- 
tles's store was situated, but it wns. 
probably, on the bank of the riv( r 
either opposite or below Court strec t. 
His business investments proved un- 
fortunate for him, and in P\'l)i-uar.\-. 



54 

1799, his real estate vvas seized by the 
sheriff for a debt of £578 for goods 
purchased from Jacob Conkline, a 
New York merchant. In November, 
1802, the property was all deeded by 
Conkline and Captain Wattles to 
Robert Bowne, another New York 
merchant, who sold goods to other 
Owego merchants of that time and 
who was also, probably, a creditor. 

Capt. Wattles remained in Owego 
several years, during a portion of 
which time he held the office of jus- 
tice of the peace and also practised 
law. He was an associate judge of 
Broome county from 1807 to 1812. 
Owego was at that time a 
part of Broome county. 

From March 28, 1806, to March 22. 
1822, the present towns of Newark 
Valley, Owego, Richford, and Berk- 
shire were a part of Broome county. 
Capt. Wattles was generally known 
here as Judge \^attles. He also held 
the office of clerk of Broome county 
from Feb. IS, 1811 to Nov. 9, 1812. 

In April, 1811, Capt. Wattles pur- 
chased a farm of 128 acres in the 
town of Nanticoke, Broome county, 
and later removed there. He was liv- 
ing there as late as Feb. 1, 1814, 
when he made his will. Later he re- 
moved to New York city, where he 
died July 16, 1819. 

The Wattles descent is as follows- 

John Wattles married Judith Fitch 
in 1722. 

Their second son. Mason Wattles 
(1), was born June 2.5, 1727; married 
Irene Chandler June 29, 1747. 

Their second son. Mason Wattles 
(2), was born March 3, 1752. 

Capt. Mason Wattles was married 
about 1783-5 with Catherine Hough- 
ton. They had two daughters. Eliza 



55 

A. Wattles, the elder, was the first 
wife of Samuel j\I. Avery, of Naiiti- 
eoke, w-ho died at Jenksville in 18S8. 
Cornelia Wattles, the younger daugh- 
ter, was married to John W. Oddie 
about the year 1805. 

There was another ^Mason Wattles 
in Broome county, Col. Mason Wattles, 
said to have been a nephew of Capt. 
Wattles, and who derived his title of 
colonel from his having been colonel 
in the 20th regiment of artillery, to 
which he was promoted from captain 
in 1822. His only daughter, Sarah 
Wattles, w^as married to Dr. .John W. 
Knapp, of Harford, N. Y„ in 1844. 
Col. Wattles lived at Lisle. He had a 
son. Harry J. Wattles, whose widow 
is still living at Killawog. 

THOMAS DUANE. 

Thomas Duane, who was one of the 
first merchants in Owego, is su])- 
posed to have been of French extrac- 
tion. He came here from King- 
ston, Pa., in 1800. His wife was the 
widow of an officer in the continential 
army who was killed in the massacre 
at Wyoming by the Indians and 
"tories" on July 3, 1778. 

Obadiah Gore, one of the most 
])rominent men of Wyoming, was one 
of the aged men left in Forty Fort, 
for its defence, while the settlers 
marched out to meet the enemy. 
Five of Gore's sons went out to the 
conflict. Three were slain, as were 
also his sons-in-law. John Murfee 
and Timothy Pierce. 

Timothy Pierce, who held a com- 
mission as lieutenant in the regular 
army, had ridden forty miles through 
the Great swamp the night previous 
and come to join his friends on the 



56 
battle field. His wife was Hannali 
Gore, Obadiah Gore's daughter. At 
the time of the massacre she, with 
her two daughters, Clarissa Pierce, 
who was three years and nine months 
old, and Polly Pierce, who was only 
nineteen months of age, had taken 
refuge with the rest of the women in 
the fort, while the men went forth to 
meet the enemy. 

Ten years subsequent to the mas- 
sacre, March 12, 17SS, Lieutenant 
Timothy Pierce's widow, Hannah 
Pierce, became the wife of Thomas 
Duane. 

When Mr. Duane came in 1800 with 
his family to Owego, he built his store 
on a lot he had purchased on the 
south side of Front street, extending 
from the east line of Lake street one- 
half the distance to Church street. 
The lumber for the construction of 
this store was brought up the river 
from Wilkes-Barre in keel-bottomed 
boats, which were polled up with long 
setting-poles, placed against the shoul- 
ders of the men who polled the boats. 
This was tedious and laborious work, 
and the boats were propelled very 
slowly, but it was the only way of 
transportation then. The family also 
came in one of these boats. 

The store was built on the bank of 
the river. It was painted yellow and 
had a lean-to in the rear. One side of 
the building was occupied as a store 
and the other side as a residence by 
the family, as was customary in those 
days. In the centre of the building 
was a huge chimney. Here the Duanes 
lived for several years. 

Later in life Thomas Duane was 
generally known as .Judge Duane. In 



August, ISll, his step-daughter, Polly 
Pierce, purchased of John Hollenback 
two acres of land, a small portion of 
lot No. 25, on the bank of the Susque- 
hanna river in the eastern part of this 
village and built thereon a hous:.'. The 
house stood about where Victor P. 
Decker's house now stands, a little 
east of the small creek, known for 
many years as Hollenback"s creek, 
which em])ties into the river, This 
house is worthy of some notice, for it 
was then the most pretentious one in 
Owego. 

Nearly all the best of the early 
houses were large rectangular build- 
ings, with a wide hall throught the 
middle from front to rear, with no 
porches, sometimes with a small 
stoop, but usually v/ithout any. This 
house had the usual hall through the 
centre, and it had also wings at each 
side. There was a high double porch 
at the front extending up nearly to 
the roof. On the south side was a 
high piazza, commanding a view of 
the most beautiful part of the river. 
Here .Judge Duane lived with his fam- 
ily in good style for several years. 

When Polly Pierce died in 181.5 she 
left a will in which she devised this 
property to her half-brother, Timothy 
Pierce Duane, who the next year sold 
it to John H. Avery. It passed through 
the ownership of several ijersons af- 
terward, and in 18.32 it again became 
the property of John Hollenback. 

This house was for several years 
used as a tavern, where river raftmen 
sometime stayed while their rafts and 
arks were tied up in the Hollenback 
eddy for the night. At one time it 
was occupied by a canal boat captain 



5S 
named Butler. One night previous to 
tlie day on which he was about to 
leave Owego on one of his periodical 
trips he dreamed that he fell over- 
board from a canal boat and was 
drowned. The dream made such an 
impression upon him that in the 
morning he narrated it to his wife. 
She v/as considerably affected, and 
endeavored to dissuade him from go- 
ing away. He laughed at her fears 
and went on his way. A few days af- 
terward she received information of 
his death, which had happened in 
every respect exactly as it had been 
presented to him in his dream. 

The house was for several years 
uninhabited, and was commonly 
known as "the haunted house." Su- 
perstitious people believed that it was 
haunted by the ghost of Butler. Mys- 
terious noises were said to have been 
heard there at night and lights were 
seen to flash from its windows. 
Less credulous people avered that the 
lights and noises which had been 
seen by belated passers-by passing 
along the highway, were caused by 
])eople of not particularly reputable 
character, who consorted there at 
night. 

The building had been deserted 
about thirty years when it was 
burned. The fire is said to have been 
set by an incendiary, who wanted to 
give the firemen a run. Mr. Hollen- 
back offered a reward of $50 for the 
arrest and conviction of the incen- 
diary, but no one was arrested, al- 
though a certain person was sus- 
pected of having caused the fire. 

Judge Duane later removed to a 
farm of twenty acres, west of the lit- 



59 
tie Nanticoke creek, a part of the 
farm now occupied by ]\Irs. Herman 
M. Tilbury and her family, where he 
died October 14, 1S21. His wife had 
died a few days previous, on the oth 
of the same month. Their bodies 
were buried on this farm between the 
highway and the river. The land has 
been cultivated many years and there 
is now nothing left to indicate where 
the graves were made. 

The genealogy of the Duune family 
is as follows: 

Thomas Duane, born IT'i'.i. .Married 
Hannah Pierce 12 March, ITSS. Died 
in Owego 14 October, 1821. His wife 
was born in 1751 and died in Owego 
5 October, 1S21. Their children were: 

1. Henry W. Duane, commonly 
known as Harry Duane, born 17 Aug., 
1789. Died in Owego 21 May, 1816, 
unmarried. 

2. Harriet Duane, born 19 May, 
1792. Married Caleb Leach, .Jr. She 
died 7 Oct., 1818. Their children were 
Harry Leach, unmarried. Died and 
was buried at sea. Mary T.,each mar- 
ried Lucius Truman, of Owego. Har- 
riet married George S. Leonard, of 
Owego, and died 1 Jan. 1S74. 

?,. Timothy Pierce Duane born 11 
Sept. 1794. He was a farmer. Mar- 
ried Laura Steele, daughter of Aaron 
Steele, 20 Oct.. 1822. He died at 
South Owego 11 August. 1872. She 
died 13, Oct., 1775. Their children 
were: Mary P. and En^ily Duane, 
unmarried. Hannah Duane, married 
William .Tune. Burr Duane, unmar- 
ried. .Tohn Duane. Rebecca Duane. 
married Jerome B. Richardson. 

Henry Wm. Duane, Thomas Duane's 
eldest son, was a clerk in his father's 
store. He was in comjiany with Ca])t. 
Jesse McQuigg in the mercantile 
business in 1812 and for a few year-; 
afterward. McQnigg & Duane's store 
was in a wooden building on tlie west 



60 

side of T^ake street, two doors north 
of Front street. They failed in busi- 
ness. 

Polly Pierce was born at Wyoming, 
Pa., 14 Dec, 1776, and died in Owe- 
go 19 June, 1815. Her sister, Clarissa, 
was born at Wj^oming 11 Oct., 1774. 
and died 26 Jan., 1805. Her husband's 
name was White. They were married 
about 1796. Their children were Ed- 
win, Polly, Timothy Pierce, and John 
P. White. 

GEN. DANIEL CRUGER. 

These sketches would be incom- 
plete without the name of Gen. Daniel 
Cruger being included. His sojourn 
here was brief, but he was the first 
editor and newspaper publisher in 
this part of the state when much of 
it was a forest, and he later became 
one of the most prominent lawyers 
in this state. He was of sufficient im- 
portance to be included with William 
L. Marcy, Daniel S. Dickinson and 
thirty other prominent members of 
the New York bar in L. B. Proctor's 
"The Bench and the Bar of New 
York," a volume of 779 pages, twenty 
of which are given to Gen. Cruger. 

(!en. Cruger's ancestors were 
Huguenots, who after the massacre of 
St.Bartholomew escaped from France. 
The branch of the family from which 
he descended settled in Holstein. His 
father, whose name was also Daniel 
Cruger, came to America in 1768 and 
settled at Sunbury, Pa., where Gen. 
Cruger was born Dec. 22, 1780. Soon 
after his birth the family removed to 
Newtown (now Elmira) where the 
father engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness. 

When young Cruger was thirteen 




GEN. DANIEL CRUGER. 



From a photograph from a painting owned by 
Gen. Cruger's granddaughter, Mrs. Benjamin 
Dorrance, of Dorranceton, Pa. 



61 
years of age. air. Webster, one of 
the earliest printers in Albany, came 
to Newtown to visit relatives. He saw 
young Cruger, and was attracted to 
him by the boy's lively intelligence, 
vivacity, and activity. He induced 
the elder Cruger to apprentice his son 
to him for the purpose of learning the 
printing business. 

Having learned his trade and oli- 
tained all that could be learned in the 
printing business, young Cruger came 
to southern New York with a rather 
limited printing outfit, but one ade- 
quate to the needs of his business, 
and established a newspaper at old 
Chenango village, a small settlement 
which was at that time on the west 
side of the Chenango river, about one 
mile above the present city of Bing- 
hamton. This settlement was com- 
menced in 11',)?, or 1794, and no settle- 
ment was thought of where Bingham- 
ton now is before the year 1799. 

The first number of the paper, 
which was called "The American Con- 
stUation," was, published Nov. 22, 
1800, and at that time Gen. Cruger was 
only nineteen years of age. Although 
the paper was printed at old Che- 
anngo, it was dated "Union," for the 
reason that the post office at Union 
was for a long time the only one in 
that part of the country. 

As in 1801 Owego had become the 
only settlement in this part of the 
state that had grown to any import- 
ance young Cruger removed his news- 
paper establishment here that year. 
He established his office in a lean-to 
in the rear of a house which stood on 
the north side of Front street, where 
Lewis H. Leonard's residence now 
stands. The house was a double one. 



62 

occupied by Eleazer Dana, one of the 
early lawyers in Owego, on one side, 
and by Luke B. Winship on the other, 
and he boarded with the Winships. 
Here he printed the paper until Aug- 
ust, 1803, when he sold it to Stephen 
Mack and Henry Steward, who changed 
tne name to "The American Farmer." 
Young Cruger's father had in the 
mean time removed to Bath, Steuben 
county, and after the sale of his paper 
the son went to Bath, where he worked 
for a time at the printer's trade. It 
was fortunate for his future prospects 
that the work proved injurious to his 
health, as he was compelled to re- 
nounce it, and he entered the office of 
Gen. S. S. Haight as a law student. 
After he was admitted to the bar, 
about the year 1806, he became Gen. 
Haight's law partner. He soon be- 
came one of the leading lawyers of 
the Steuben county bar. 

In 1806 Gen. Cruger was appointed 
an adjutant in the Steuben county 
regiment of militia which was com- 
manded by Col. Geo. McCuIlock. In 
1808 he was commissioned second 
major in the regiment commanded by 
T.ieut.-Col. Samuel S. Haight, his law 
partner. 

In 1812 he went with Gen.McClure's 
brigade to the northern frontier. Soon 
after he reached the seat of war. Gen. 
McClure, understanding that certain 
orders directed him to burn the town 
of Newark, in Canada, he took the 
necessary steps to obey. Major 
Cruger and Mr. Spencer, another of- 
ficer, however, dissented from the 
view of the order taken by Gen. Mc- 
Clure, and objected to burning the 
town. About this time ]\Ir. Spencer 



63 

was called home by illness in his fam- 
ily, and major Cruger stood alone in 
his opposition. The general therefore 
prepared to carry out his construction 
of the order, and major Cruger was 
ordered to enter the town with a flag 
of truce and inform the "inhabitants 
of the coming conflagration." He 
obeyed the order, entered the town 
with an orderly, and after giving the 
usual notice, he and his orderly as- 
sited the inhabitants in removing 
their effects, and the town was soon 
in flames. 

In 1816 Col. Haight was promoted 
to brigadier-general, and major 
Cruger was made lieutenant-general 
of the regiment In 1819 he was again 
promoted to major general of the 2.5th 
division of infantry. In 1822 he re- 
signed. 

In 1813 he was elected by the Dem- 
ocrats of Allegany and Steuben 
counties to the assembly, and he was 
re-elected four times thereafter. In 
1816 he was elected speaker of the 
assembly, after a bitter contest, by a 
majority of one vote. His popularity 
as speaker was such that in the fall 
of 1816 he was nominated to con- 
gress in the Twentieth congressional 
district and elected. He was a promi- 
nent member of the house. 

April 17, 1815, he was appointed 
district attorney of the Seventh dis- 
trict, consisting of the counties of 
Steuben, Allegany, and Tioga. This 
office was then one of the most im- 
portant in the state, second only to 
that of attorney-general. There were 
at this time twelve district attorneys, 
the state being divided into twelve 
districts, each district embracing with- 



64 

in its jurisdiction several counties. 
He was district attorney of the Sev- 
enth district until June 11, 1S18, and 
from that date he continued as dis- 
trict attorney of Steuben county until 
February 19, 1821. 

Gen. Cruger's first wife was Han- 
nah Clement, of Bath. They were 
married about 1806. She died in 1828. 
While in congress. Gen. Cruger be- 
came acquainted with Mrs. Lydia 
Shepard, -of Wheeling, Va., who was 
in Washington trying to collect a 
claim of - her deceased husband 
against the government. He subse- 
quently went to Wheeling, where 
they were married in 1833. After his 
marriage, he gave himself up entirely 
to agricultural pursuits and the man- 
agement of his wife's property. June 
12, 1843, while attending a meeting of 
the directors of the Wheeling bank, 
he was stricken with apoplexy and 
died within a few moments. His body 
was buried in Stone Church ceme- 
tery at Elm Grove, Ohio county, Va. 

ST-EPHEN MACK. 

Judge Stephen Mack, who during his 
residence of fifteen years in Owego 
was one of its most active and promi- 
nent citizens, was born at New Marl- 
borough, Mass., March 20, 176.5. He 
was a son of Orlando Mack, of Hebron, 
Conn., and great grandson of John 
Mack, who came from Scotland to 
America about 1680 and settled at 
Lyme, Conn. Two older brothers of 
Stephen Mack served in the Continen- 
tal army and became distinguished of- 
ficers. One died a prisoner of war in 
a fortress in Canada. 

In early life Judge Mack was a mer- 
chant. In lino he kept a general 




JUDGE STEPHEN MACK. 



65 
country store at Cooperstown, N. Y. 
The particulars of his coming to Owe- 
go, as given to the writer several years 
ago by his son-in-law, John Carmi- 
chael, were as follows: 

While conducting his mercantile bus- 
iness at Cooperstown, he made a con- 
ract with the United States govern- 
ment to furnish about 100,000 spars, to 
l)e delivered at Baltimore, Md. He pur- 
chased the timber in the winter, pay- 
ing for it in goods from his store. In 
March, 1799, while about to start it 
down the river there came a great 
freshet, carrying away and scattering 
along the stream all of his timber. He 
came down the river to Owego in quest 
of his property, but ascertaining that 
it would cost him as much to secure it 
as it would be worth when gathered to- 
gether again, he abandoned his search. 
The loss of his timber made him a 
bankru])t. 

During his sojourn in Owego he had 
liecome impressed with the beauty of 
the Susquehanna valley and its ap- 
parent advantages to settlers, and he 
decided to come here to live. He was 
a man of great vigor, enterinise, and 
ability, and he at once became an 
active and ])rominent citizen. He en- 
gaged in the mercantile business, in 
which he was successful. 

In 1803 Judge Mack and Henry 
Steward purchased of Daniel Cruger, 
Jr., "The American Constellation," a 
newspaper that Mr. Cruger had printed 
here two years. He changed the name 
to "The American Parmer," issuing the 
first number under that name August 
19, 1803. He published the paper 
eleven years until his death. 

Henry Steward was a printer and 



66 
conducted the mechanical department 
of the paper. Judge Mack was the edi- 
tor. His editorial duties were not par- 
ticularly arduous, and did not interfere 
with his duties as a public officer. The 
printing office was for a short time in 
a small building which stood near the 
northeast corner of Front and Court 
streets. In 1804 Steward sold his in- 
terest in the paper to his partner and 
bought land in the fork of the east and 
west branches of the Owego creek at 
their confluence at Fleraingville and 
built a saw mill there. 

Judge Mack at aoout this time re- 
moved his plant to a little red house, 
a story and a half high, which stood on 
the north side of Front street, now the 
tnird lot east of Church street, owned 
by Dr. E. E. Bauer. The building was 
on the west side of the lot and the 
printing office- was in an unfinished 
room in the southeast corner of the 
house, up stairs. This house was torn 
down in 1826. several years after Judge 
Mack's death by John Carmichael, who 
built a larger house on the lot, which 
was later occupied by Geo. W. Hol- 
lenback, and still later by Edward W. 
Warner. The house was rebuilt in 
190G by its present owner. Dr. Bauer. 

Judge Mack during his residence in 
this village held various town offices, 
constable, assessor, commissioner of 
highvvrays, and excise commissioner. 
He was for several years a justice of 
the peace and was supervisor in 1807, 
1808, ISll, and 1812. He was appointed 
First Judge of Broome (now Tioga) 
county Nov. 9, 1812, by commission of 
Gov. Tompkins, and served until his 
death. 

He died in Owego April 14, 1814, 
aged 49 years. His body was buried 



67 
in the old burying ground in Court 
street. Tiie remains were afterward 
removed to the Presbyterian yard in 
Temple street, and in 1875 to Ever- 
green cemetery, where his second wife. 
Mary (Serjants) Mack, is also buried. 

In Judge Avery's "Susquehanna Val- 
ley" papers he thus mentions Judge 
Mack: "In all his official positions 
Judge Mack brought to the discharge 
of his duties unimijeached integrity of 
character, and strong native powers 
of discrimination, improved by a good 
education. Nor should his good traits 
of character, socially, be lost among 
the forgotten things of the past. Some 
yet live, now aged gentlemen, who 
bear uniform witness to the generosit\- 
of his disposition, his liberality to 
every one in adversity, whom it was in 
his power to help, and his marked 
amiabiHty of character." 

Judge Mack was twice married. His 
first wife was Mary Chambers, who 
died while they lived at Cooperstown. 
Their children were as follows : 

1. Elizabeth Mack, born in 17si. 
Married Benjamin Benedict, of Delhi, 
N. Y. Died 17 Dec., 1863, at the home 
of her son-in-law, Putnam Mersereau. 

2. Stephen Mack, born 19 Dec, 1784. 
Graduated from Yale college in ISD! 
and studied law at Delhi, N. Y. Re- 
moved in 1S16 to Ithaca, where he 
practised law until his death, 17 Jan., 
1857. He was never married. 

3. Phoebe Mack, born 29 April, 1788. 
She married a man named Crawford. 

4. Ebenezer Mack, born 9 May, 
1791. 

All four of these children were born 
at Kinderhook, N. Y. 

Judge Mack and his second wife. 
Mary Serjants, daughter of Lemuel 
Serjants, of Bellows Falls. Vt., were 
married in 1797 at Cooperstown. She 



68 
lived with her son-in-law, John Carnii- 
chael, until 1837, and then went to 
Ithaca and lived with her son, Horace. 
She died 20 Feb., 1S62, in Owego while 
visiting at Mr. Carmichael's, and her 
body was buried in Evergreen ceme- 
tery. Their children were: 

1. Hoi-ace Mack, born 20 Jan., 1790. 
at Cooperstown. Married Eliza Ann 
Ferris, daughter of Judge Joshua Fer- 
ris, of Spencer, 19 Jan., 1826. 

2. Maria J. Mack, born in Owego 
1 July, 1800. Married to John Carmi- 
chael 25 Dec, 1824. Died in Owego 22 
Sept., 1829. 

Ebenezer and Horace Mack both be- 
came prominent men in Tompkins 
county. Ebenezer Mack learned the 
printers' trade, and previous to com- 
ing to Owego he was foreman in "The 
Columbian" office in New York city. 
At the time of Judge Mack's death 
Stephen B. Leonard was his partner, 
owning one-half of the "American Far- 
mer" office. Mr. Leonard changed the 
name of the paper to "Owego Gazette'" 
and he and Ebenezer Mack became 
partners in publishing it in June, 1815. 
Mr. Mack remained here until 1816, 
when he went to Ithaca and purchased 
the "Seneca Republican," now known 
as the "Ithaca Journal." He published 
the paper with different partners until 
December, 1833. He built a paper mill, 
conducted a book store, and was for 
several years and until his death a 
member of the firm of Mack & Andrus. 
He represented Tompkins county in 
the assembly in 1830, and was senator 
from the Sixth senate district from 
1834 to 1837, inclusive. He was at one 
time state printer. He was offered a 
cabinet position by President Martin 
VanBuren, but declined it. He wrote a 
life of Lafayette, which was published 



69 
In 1841. He collected a large lil)rary, 
which as a gift from him formed a 
nucleus for the present ])ul)Iic library 
of Ithaca. He died at Ithaca in August. 
1S49. 

Horace Mack was born at Coopers- 
town 20 Jan., 17tt!i, the same year th^ 
family removed to Owego. He was an 
aijprentice in the "American Farmer" 
office until after the death of his 
father. .Ian. 20, 1815, he w'ks appren- 
ticed to Mayor Horatio Ross in the 
mercantile business for five years. 
He did not serve the full term of his 
apprenticeshij), but in 1818 he wi^nt to 
Ithaca, where he was a clerk in various 
stores until 1825, when he began busi- 
ness on his own account. He repre- 
sented Tompkins county in the assem- 
bly in 1832 and was county clerk from 
1850 to 185o. He was president of the 
village of Ithaca in 1851. He was a 
director in the Toni]»kins county bank 
from its organization in 18:!6 until his 
death, 10 Sept., 1855. 

CAPT. LEMUEL BROWN. 

The first tanner in Owego was Caji- 
tain Lemuel Brown. He was born at 
Stockbridge, Mass., Feb. 1. 1775, and 
was the youngest of five sons of 
Abraham and Beulah Brown. Abra- 
ham Brown was a caiitain of militia 
and served in the early part of the 
revolutionary war. He died Jan. N, 
1777, of small pox, which was com- 
municated to him by a letter. His wife 
was a daughter of Joseph Patterson, 
of Watertown, Mass., and she was his 
cousin. 

Mrs. Beulah Brown was one of the 
si.xty associates in the purchase 
of the tract of land known as 
the "Boston ten townships.'" She 



70 
came in 1796 to Brown's Settle- 
ment in tlie town of Berkshire 
with her five children, when Lemuel 
Brown was 21 years of age. Mrs. 
Brown was a woman of strong mind 
and great vigor. It is related of her 
by D. W. Patterson that when she was 
nearly eighty years of age she made 
eighty cheeses and took care of them 
with her own hands. 

The local "histories" give the date 
of the building of the first tannery in 
Owego by Mr. Brown as 1795, but as 
the Brown family did not come to this 
county until the next year, this is ob- 
viously incorrect. He probably 
came here in 1797, and he was mar- 
ried the next year. 

By deed dated Dec. 21, ISOl, and 
for a consideration of $75, Capt. Luke 
Bates conveyed to Capt.Lemuel Brown 
two pieces of land in Owego. One of 
these pieces was on the south side of 
the highway now known as Front 
street and was east of and adjoining 
Thomas Duane's house and store lot 
and nearly opposite where the Tioga 
national bank now is. It extended 
about forty-five feet on the street. 
The other piece contained one acre 
of land and was on the west side of 
the old Cayuga road, now known as 
.Xorth avenue. It was a little north 
of what is now the southeast corner 
of George street and North avenue. 

After coming to Owego Capt. Brown 
married Elizabeth McQuigg, daugh- 
ter of the pioneer, Capt. John Mc- 
Quigg. He lived in part of a double 
house on the Front street lot and 
John Murphy, a barber, at one time 
occupied the other part as a barber 
shop and residence. The building 



71 
was several years afterward removed 
to the lot which is now the north- 
west corner of Main street and Spen 
cer avenue. It was for several years 
occuijied by undesirable tenants. The 
last one. in spite of the protests of the 
neighbors and the occasional inter- 
ference of the village health authori- 
ties, persisted in raising his pigs in 
that part of the house which is 
usually occupied as a kitchen. One 
night, between 1852 and lSf)(i, 
while the house was tempor- 
arily unoccupied, several young men 
with saws and axes partly dismantled 
it, to prevent a new tenant from mov- 
ing in, but the house was so strongly 
built that their labor made little im- 
pression, and a few nights afterward 
some one set fire to the house and it 
was burned to the ground, the fare- 
men, who were in evident sympathy 
with the purpose of the incendiary, 
refusing to make any effort to ex- 
tinguish the flames. 

Capt. Brown's first tannery was 
built of logs and is said to have been 
on the bank of the river about where 
Goodrich's & Co.'s store now stands. 
The vats were in the open air. 
Whether the tannery was built befor«^ 
he purchased the property or after- 
ward is not known. The vats were 
in the open air on the bank of the 
river. The high water undermined 
the bank and the side of the vats 
broke and slid into the river. 

At about this time Capt. Brown 
built another tannery, a frame build 
ing, on his one-acre lot. It stood on 
the west side of where the railroad 
tracks now are and on the south side 
of the ])rivate driveway leading into 



72 

the Brown farm, and was a story and 
a half high. The vats of this tannery 
were also in the open air and they 
were near whei'e the railroad tracks 
are now, and covered with boards, to 
keep out the rain. 

After Capt. Brown's death, in 181.5, 
the tannery was conducted until 1819 
by his son, Richard Brown, and Capt. 
Brown's brother-in-law, Capt. .lesse 
McQuigg. The building was after- 
ward used as a place in which to man- 
ufacture oar stems for river rafts 
during rainy weather, when men 
'could not work out of doors. Capt. 
Brown's son^ were all river raftsmen. 
The building was subsequently moved 
to another part of the premises and 
converted into a tool house. 

Lemuel Brown derived his military 
title from his service in the state 
militia. In 1800 he was adjutant in 
Col. David Pixley's regiment. In 1802 
he was promoted to Captain, and in 
1807 he was again promoted to second 
major in Col. Asa Camp's Broome and 
Tioga regiment. 

Capt. Brown's oldest brother, John 
Brown, was the first man elected su- 
pervisor of Owego upon the organiza- 
tion of the town April 3, 1800, and he 
was re-elected five times, serving six 
successive years. Lemuel Brow^n was 
also elected town clerk at this first 
election and served seven yearsin suc- 
cession. He also filled the offices of 
l)ound master, fence-viewer, and com- 
missioner of highways. In 1805 he 
was appointed the first sealer of 
weights and measures in Tioga coun- 
ty, and he was one of the incorpora- 
tors of the old Owego and Ithaca turn- 
pike in 1807. .lohn Brown was one of 



the first justices of tlie peace in this 
town. In October, 1809, he was ap- 
pointed a judge of the Broome county 
court of common pleas, and held the 
office until his death, October 14, 1813. 

Lemuel Brown died Nov. 28, 1813, 
aged 40 years, 8 months, and 28 days. 
The date inscribed on his grave stone 
in the Presbyterian church yard is Dec. 
•"),1815, which is incorrect. Inscriptions 
on tombstones are notoriously un- 
truthful. A written obituary of Capt. 
Brown, in the possession of his grand- 
daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Chatiield, 
signed by two of Capt. Brown's sons, 
Richard and Abram Brown, and dated 
"Owego Village, Dec. 2, 1815, gives the 
date of death as Nov. 28, and this also 
agrees with the family record. 

Lemuel Brown was the first treas- 
urer of Friendship lodge, F. and A. 
M., of which Capt. IMason Wattles was 
the first master, in 1804, and of which 
.John Murphy was junior warden. He 
was also one of the Royal Arch 
masons named in the original war- 
rant of New Jerusalem chapter, 
granted Feb. 8, 1816. 

The children of Capt. Lemuel and 
Elizabeth (McQuigg) Brown were as 
follows : 

1. Richard Brown, born 10 Oct., 

1799. Died in Owego 2 Feb., 1879. He 
was unmarried. 

2. Abram Brown, born 20 Nov., 

1800. Married Catherine Geotschuis, 
who was born 29 Dec, 1810. He died 
24 Oct., 1878; she died 9 March, 1881. 
Abram Brown was elected overseer 
of the poor of the town of Owego in 
1845 and served eighteen years. 

.3. Robert Brown, bom 14 Aug., 
1802. Died in Owego 2 Feb., 1869. 
He was unmarried. 

4. Sarah Brown, born 29 March. 
1804. Died 23 Dec, 1851. Unmarried. 



5. Lemuel Brown, born 14 March, 
1806. Died July 5. 1835. Unmarried. 
In 1815 he and Dr. Jededlah Fay 
formed a partnership in the mercan- 
tile business and conducted a general 
store in Owego and also established a 
branch store at Spencer, which was 
then the county seat of Tioga county. 
Richard Brown was a clerk in the 
Spencer store. They were unsuccess- 
ful and failed in business. 

6. Ransom Brown, born 22 Nov., 
1808. Was accidently killed while 
hunting 13 Dec, 1837. Unmarried. 

7. Horatio Brown, born 30 Nov., 
1810. Married Eunice Goodrich, 
daughter of Alanson Goodrich. She 
was born Nov., 1822. He died at Big 
Rapids, Mich., 21 July, 1874, and she 
6 June, 1852. His second wife was 
Jane Mosher, daughter of Seth 
Mosher, of Owego. 

8. Eliza Brown, born 4 Feb., 1S13. 
Married William Barnes. She died 4 
Nov., 1894. 

9. Frederick Brown, born 1 May, 
1816. :\Iarried Charlotte McQuigg, 
daughter of Daniel McQuigg. IS Oct., 
1842. He died in Owego 8 April, 1873, 
and she 6 Jan., 1893. 

The house built by Capt. Lemuel 
Brown in 1801 still stands in a dis- 
mantled condition and unoccupied on 
the old homestead. It is the only one 
of the old farm houses of the kind 
now remaining in this village. After 
Caiit. Brown's death his widow and 
her mother, Mrs. John McQuigg, with 
Capt. Jesse McQuigg and Capt. 
Brown's children lived there, and 
there most of them died. 

ELISHA FORSYTH. 
One of the first comers to Owego 
in the days of its first settlement by 
white people was Elisha Forsyth. He 
was of Scottish descent, born at 
Wyalusing, Pa.. Sept. 10, 1773, a son 
of Jonathan Forsyth, of Connecticut, 
who purchased land in the Wyoming 



valley of Peinusylvauia uudtr the 
Connecticut title, and who in the 
Wyoming massacre lost everythinji 
he owned, escaping with his own life 
and the lives of his family. The fam- 
ily subsequently returned to Wyom- 
ing, where they remained until peace 
was declared. Then they removed to 
Towanda, Pa., and thence up the Sus- 
quehanna river to Choconut, N. Y., 
which was a little distance above the 
present village of Union on the 
easterly side of the river. The For- 
sythes afterward removed to Geneva, 
where .Jonathan For.syth died in 178n. 

The next year Elisha Forsyth, who 
was now sixteen years of age, re- 
turned to Choconut, where he attend- 
ed school. He was living there in 
1794 when he married Freelove Park, 
daughter of Capt. Thomas Park, who 
was the earliest settler at Park set- 
tlement on the west side of the Owe- 
go creek, near Flemingville. Previ- 
ous to his marriage he worked eight 
months at Catskill learning the car- 
lienter's trade, and afterward came 
to Owego. He assisted in framing 
the first frame building erected here, 
and he built the first ark made on the 
Susquehanna river. 

Cai)t. Thomas Park's father was 
also named Thomas Park, and there 
were four of that name in succession. 
He was born in Connecticut March 
111. 1744. He came with his family in 
the summer of 17S7 to Catskill, N. Y., 
where he lived two years. In the fall 
of 1789 he removed to Vestal, Broome 
county, and in the spring of 1797 he 
came to Park settlement, where he 
settled permanently, building a saw 
mill and clearing a farm. Capt. 



76 
Park's wife was Hannah Fiddis. 
widow of Hugh Fiddis. They were 
married in 1768. They had one son, 
Capt. Daniel R. Park, and eight 
daughters. When the family came to 
Park settlement in 1797, Capt. D. R. 
Park was twelve years old. He was 
a soldier in the war of 1812. He died 
in the town of Candor, April 7, 1874. 

Capt. Thomas Park was a sea cap- 
tain and privateeersman in the revo- 
lutionary war. He died 19 Nov., 1838. 
His wife, Hannah Park, was born 25 
Jan., 1743, and died 25 June, 1828. 

Elisha Forsyth spent the greater 
l)art of his life lumbering and farm- 
ing. He died at Park settlement 
March 1, 1857. His wife, Freelove 
Forsyth, who was born 19 Sept., 1775, 
died Oct. 21, 1862. The children of 
Elisha and Freelove (Park) Forsyth 
were as follows: 

1. Catherine Forsyth, born IS Sept., 
1795, at Union. Married Nathaniel 
Webster. Died 21 Nov.. 1884. 

2. George Forsyth, born 2 July. 
1798. His first wife was Mary Chap- 
man and his second Rachel Puffer. 
He died in Owego 5 Oct., 1876. 

3. Elisha Forsyth, Jr., born 14 
Feb., 1801. Married Wealthy Law- 
rence, of Newark Valley, 1 Feb., 1827. 
He died in Owego 14 Feb., 1873; she 
19 Dec, 1875. Elisha Forsyth, Jr., in 
the civil war was fife major of the 
50th regiment. New York engineers. 

4. Azor Forsyth, bom 17 Oct. 
1803. Died 20 April, 1863, in Elmira. 

5. Experience Forsyth, born 17 
Sept., 1806. Married Martin Smith. 
Died at Sparta. Wis., 6 Dec, 1882. 

6. Gilbert Forsyth, born 4 Oct., 
1808. Died 29 Nov., 1840. 

7. Eldridge Forsyth, born 5 Aug.. 
1812. Died 26 Ai)ril, 1889. His first 
wife was Mary A. Fisher, and his sec- 
ond Eunice A. Tyler. 

Gilbert and Azor Forsyth were por- 
trait painters: the other brothers 



were house painters. Gilbert For- 
syth was ])ossessed of much talent 
as an artist. In his youthful 
days he and Thomas LeClere, who 
later become one of the most ctle- 
brated portrait painters in America, 
were boys together at Park settle- 
ment. 

Thomas LeClere was a son of Louis 
LeClere and was born in ISIS in a 
small house, just above the Ovvego 
creek bridge in the town of Candor, 
about a mile below the Flemingville 
church. When a child he exhibited a 
taste for portrait painting. His first 
productions were painted from paint 
made by squeezing the juice of poke- 
berries and green grass together, and 
with this kind of pigment he painted 
his first pictures. His first attempt 
at portrait painting was made when 
he was only nine years of age with a 
mi.xture of lampblack, Venetian red. 
and white on a i)iece of pine board. 
Eldridge Forsyth assisted young I^e- 
Clere in mixing his first colors. These 
two painters afterward went in dif- 
ferent directions. One came to Owe- 
go and painted houses at from twenty 
to fifty dollars a house; the other 
went to New York city and painted 
portraits at from five to ten thousand 
dollars a head. 

In 1832 Louis LeClere removed 
with his family to London, Ontario. 
In February, 1844, Thomas LeClere 
returned to Owego and opened a 
studio over the Gazette office in a 
two-story wooden building, which 
stood on the south side of Front 
street, just west of Park street, where 
he painted portraits and gave instruc- 
tion in oil painting and pencil draw- 
hig. He remained here only a short 



78 

time and went to New York. He 
never returned to Owego but once. 
In 1882 he came to visit his birthplace 
and to call on some of the people he 
had known in his boyhood days. 

While he was living in Owego he 
painted the portraits of various peo- 
ple. The execution was rough, but 
the likenesses were excellent. He 
gained distinction after going to New 
York. He painted the portraits of 
Edwin Booth, Daniel S. Dickinson, 
President Millard Fillmore, Bayard 
Taylor, Chief Justice Taney, Wm. 
Cullen Bryant, and many other men 
of eminence, and at the time of his 
death an almost finished portrait of 
Gen. Grant, for which he was to have 
received $10,000, was in his studio. 
He was twice married. He died at 
Rutherford Park, N. J., Nov. 26, 1882. 
He left six children, one of whom, a 
daughter, was the wife of Wm. H. 
Beard, the famous painter of animals 
in grotesque and humorous situations. 

Gilbert Forsyth -went to New York 
city, where he was employed as a 
scene painter at Niblo's garden 
theatre. While thus employed he 
was engaged to go, in 1832, to the 
Canary islands for the purpose of 
making sketches of scenery and 
painting them. He afterward went 
among the Indians of Upper Canada 
for the same purpose. Later he re- 
turned to Owego, and subsequently 
went to Elmira, where he was taken 
ill. He returned to Park settlement, 
where he died at his father's home 
November 29, 1840. 

An interesting paper in the Wis- 
consin state historical society's col- 
lection, obtained by Lyman C. Draper. 



79 

the historian, from the heirs of Judge 
Chas. P. Avery, of Owego, is the 
statement made in Owego in 1S54 by 
FLllisha Forsyth. The statement is as 
follows: 

STATEMENT OF ELISHA FOR- 
SYTH, MADE FEB. 20, 1S54. 

"I live in the town of Owego. I was 
born in 1776-1777 in Connecticut. My 
father's name was Jonathan. My 
grandfather was a full-blooded Scotch- 
man frop. Edinburg. Three brothers. 
John, Jonathan, and James, came. 
My father lived below Shawnee, just 
above Nanticoke falls, and kept a 
public house. My first recollections 
are of that place. 

"My father was in the battle and 
his house was burnt in the affair of 
1778. His writings were then lost. 
His and other families went aboard 
of a Durham boat at the time of the 
battle and pushed on down and after- 
ward lived at Carlisle. My father 
escaped and joined his family. 

"I was quite a boy when we got 
back to Wyoming; came back in a 
boat. We emigrated from Wyoming 
to Towanda and then to Choconut 
in big boats. On the trip i 
must have been six or seven 
years old. We saw nobody but In- 
dians. One white man; Patterson, 
lived at Tioga Point and my father 
let him have a quantity of provisions, 
while he (my father) was living at 
Towanda. My father left Wyoming 
on account of the Pennamite war. 

"We were on the premises, near 
Gen'l. Stoddard's, before Amos Draper 
came into the country. My father 
gave the Indians seven barrels of 
corn per year for the use of the land. 
The Indians were settled all around 
us. We were living there when Mc- 
Master came in. 

"Major Coe (from Wyoming) was 
then living on- the south side of the 
river, opposite Mersereau's flats. We 
then removed above Binghamton, up 
the Chenango. 



'Amos Draper lived upon the flat 
called the old Mersereau flat. 

"Amos Draper was a nice man — one 
of the finest men in the world. My 
father moved next to Geneva, in three 
or four years, and he died there in 
1788, in the fall. We went from Union 
in a boat to Tioga Point (some fam- 
ilies were there then), thence up the 
Chemung to Horseheads, to Seneca 
Lake, and thence to Geneva, where 
some people (Tuttle for one) lived. 
He lives now on a corner of the farm 
my father bought. I signed away a 
quit claim for it after my father's 
■death. My father's children were 
Alexander, Elisha. William, Azor, liv- 
ing in Michigan, in Prarie du Chien, 
and Hannah, wife of Alexander 
Hewitt. 

"My mother married a man by the 
name of John Gansen. He went be- 
yond the Genesee and bought 600 
acres of land with the money for the 
land which had been deeded after my 
father's death to my mother. I lived 
there about one year after my father's 
death and then came to Jabez Win- 
ship's (then on the lower end of the 
Mersereau flats.) I recollect being 
caught at his house when the water 
Vose and stayed all night with him, 
and the next morning he took me on 
his back to the woods and built a fire 
and warmed us. His family was not 
with him then. The next morning 
my father took a canoe to look for me, 
and Draper saw him and hallooed, 
and he took me home. This was 
called the 'pumpkin fresh.' He lived 
at that place with his family but one 
summer; he then came down here. 

"The man Patterson who lived at 
Tioga Point and whom my father 
helped came down from the Che- 
nango, where he had removed to, and 
came down to a meeting at his 
father's house; all the inhabitants of 
the country gathered to it. The man 
then ignored the charity of Mr. For- 
syth and it ended in" an encounter 
brought on by the insults of Patter- 
son. There must have been a dozen 
or more ])eople there to go to school. 



81 

The log school house was on the road 
back of the flat, up toward the creek. 

"From there I came to work at 
Ovv^ego village at carpenter and 
joiner's work. I helped frame the 
first building for a jail on the west 
side of the public square, not far 
from where the church stands. Mr. 
Laning moved it afterward and made 
it a part of the old tavern house, and 
it stood there when it was burnt 
down. It was the bar-room part. 

"There was a saw mill with the 
grist mill just below Indian spring 
put up by Pixley. I built the first 
ark that was ever made on this river. 
GO feet long, white oak timber, calked 
and taned, for Judge Ashbel Wells. 
He ran wheat in it. 

"Old Captain Thomas Park helped 
me build it and I was foreman. Judge 
Wells had seen an ark on the west 
branch and came up to my house and 
chalked it out and explained it. I 
went to work and built it. 

"I was living at Winship's when I 
got married. I went to Catskill for 
eight months and learnt my trade, 
then came back and married a daugh- 
ter of Captain Parks; was married at 
21 years of age. Sabin taught the 
first school at Choconut (Union) and 
was a surveyor. 

"When we first started from Wyom- 
ing we expected to stop at Towanda 
and make a settlement. A family by 
the name of Fox came up with us 
from Wyoming. They had lived there 
before the troubles several years, but 
the Indians drove them away. But 
we did not remain at Towanda long; 
we went on further to Tioga Point, 
and so to Choconut. When I came 
back from Geneva I went down the 
river as far as Towanda to see the 
same people we came up with, but I 
did not remain a great while. They 
were not relations of mine and so I 
came on up to Jabez Winship's. 

"We ground our meal by a hand 
mill. Some stones were used by Win- 
chell on the other side of the river 
on Choconut creek. That was the 
first grist mill in this part of the 



82 

country. This was after I came back 
from Geneva (not the first, the last.) 
My father went first clear to Wilkes- 
Barre to mill. 

"When his father came back the 
Shawnee Indians attacked him, burnt 
his hay stack. He fled to his canoe, 
sunk himself in the water from time to 
time as they fired nine rounds at him. 
Next day he could not swim. Frank- 
lin's family were captured by the In- 
dians. Sixty men went in pursuit and 
overtook them just below Tioga Point. 
Mrs. Franklin was shot through the 
head, and the Indians dashed the 
brains of the child out. The survivors 
were brought to my father's house." 

DR. ELISHA ELY. 

Dr. Elisha Ely, one of the earliest 
settlers in Owego, was bom at Lyme, 
Conn., in 1748. His greatgrandfather 
Richard Ely, a widower, who was 
born in 1610, came from Plymouth, 
England, 'to America between 1660 
and 1663 with his sons, William ana 
Richard, and settled at Lyme, where 
he died in 1684. His eldest son, 
William, had ten children, the fourth 
of whom was Daniel Ely, the father 
of Dr. Elisha Ely. Daniel Ely was 
married four times and had in all 
twelve children, five by his fourth 
wife, Ruhama Turner. The twelfth 
child was Dr. Elisha Ely. 

Dr. Ely was a surgeon in the revo- 
lutionary army, with the rank of cap- 
tain. His record, as it appears in the 
Historical Record of Officers of the 
Continental Army, 1775 to 1783, is as 
follows: 

Elisha Ely (Conn.) Surgeon's mate, 
10th Continental Infantry, 1 January, 
1776. Surgeon 19th Continental in- 
fantry, 19 July to 31 December, 1776. 
Captain 6th Conn., 1 January, 1777. 
Resigned 28 August, 1780. 



S3 

Dr. Ely married Susannah Bloomer, 
of Rye, N. Y.. in 1781, the year fol- 
lowing his resignation from the army. 
He practised medicine at Saybrook. 
Conn., until his removal to Owego. 
He left Saybrook in the fall of 179S 
v;ith 116,000 in his possession, with 
which he purchased two townships of 
land in northern Pennsylvania under 
the Connecticut title. The title was 
in dispute between Connecticut and 
Pennsylvania and was finally decided 
in favor of Pennsylvania, conse- 
quently the purchasers under the Con- 
necticut title lost all they had in- 
vested. 

When Dr. Ely came to Owego he 
was a cripple from wounds received 
while in the army. He came with his 
wife and their eight children. They 
came from New York city to Catskill 
by water, and their trip through the 
woods from Catskill occupied six 
days. They came with a wagon, a 
yoke of oxen, a span of horses, and 
the first chaise ever seen in this sec- 
tion, bringing all the household good.s 
they could carry. 

Dr. Ely had intended to stay in 
Owego and practise medicine during 
the winter and go on the next spring 
to Wellsboro, Pa., where the land he 
had purchased was situated. The loss 
of this Pennsylvania land impover- 
ished him. His health had been im- 
paired while in the army, and in 1S01, 
three years after his coming here, he 
died of consumption. 

After Dr. Ely's death his widow 
lived in the north side of west Front 
street in a house which stood where 
the residence of .John .Tones now 
stands, and she remained there until 
her death on .luly 21, ISL';!. 



84 

The children of Ur. Elisha anti 
Susannah (Bloomer) Ely, all of whom 
except James Ely were born in Con- 
necticut, were as follows: 

1. Nancy Ely, born in 1782. She 
was married to Archibald White, of 
Owego. He died in New York of yel- 
low fever in August, 1802. Her sec- 
ond husband was Abner Murray, of 
Athens, Pa., to whom she was married 
in 1821. She died in 1862. 

2. Susanah Ely, born 1783; died 
1847. 

3. Gilbert Bloomer Ely, born 17Sr>. 
Married Elizabeth McClain in 1809. 
He died in 1831 and she in 1825. 

4. Elisha Ely, born 1788. Left 
Owego and settled in California. 

5. William Alfred Ely, born I'i 
Oct., 17S9. Married Ann S. Gregory 
in 1810. He died in Owego 27 Nov., 
1863, and she 20 Jan., 1884. 

6. Edward Ely. born 1791. Mar- 
ried Fanny Avery, of Trumansburg. 
He died in Owego in 1844. 

7. Harriet Ely, born 1794. Married 
John Carmichael in 1835. She died 
1 Sept., 1881. 

8. Daniel Ely, born 1797. Married 
I^ois Gridley Kelsey, of Hartford. 
Conn., 1832. He died in Owego 2.") 
Nov., 1844. 

9. James Ely, born 1798. Married 
Cynthia Bundy. He died in Grand 
Rapids, Mich., 20 Dec, 1862. 

Archibald \\ hite, who married 
Nancy Ely, came to Owego about the 
year 1800 and in the winter of 1800- 
01 was a clerk in Thomas Duane's 
store. He was from the north of Ire- 
land, born in Belfast. When he came 
to America he landed in Baltimore, 
Md. Thence he went to Wilkes-Barre. 
Pa., where he become acquainted with 
Mr. Duane. When Mr. Duane came 
with his family to Owego in 1800 
White accompanied him. 

White's mother and William Patter- 
son, of Baltimore, the father of Eliza- 
l)eth Patterson, Prince Jerome Bona- 



S5 

l)arte's wife, were brother and sister. 
The only child of Archibald and 
Nancy (Ely) White was Maria Patter- 
son White, who was married to Elihu 
Parmenter, of Owego. Mr. Parmenter 
built and conducted the tannery in 
the northern part of this village, later 
known as the Dean tannery, and con- 
ducted it until his death. He was 
killed by the cars, near his home. 
Sept. 30, 1S72. He was about 74 
years of age at the time of his death. 
Mrs. Parmenter died 17 .June. 1S6(), 
aged 55 years. 

The Ely brothers were all mer- 
chants. William A. Ely was early in 
life a clerk in Gen. Oliver Hunting- 
ton's store. In December, 1S14, he 
[)urchased for $300 the land on the 
south side of Main street opposite 
and east of North avenue. It ex- 
tended from Lake street west to the 
public burying ground. The old bury- 
ing ground occupied all the land on 
which the telephone office and the 
sheriff's residence now stand in Main 
street and extended south in Court 
street to John L. Taylor's lot, south 
of and adjoining the county clerk's 
office. 

On the lot he purchased Mr. Ely 
built a two-story wooden building. 
which stood opposite north avenue on 
the ground where ,1. S. Houk's hard- 
ware store is now. In this building 
Wm. A. and James Ely conducted a 
general mercantile business several 
years. The store was afterward oc- 
cupied by John HoUenback, then by 
E. B. Hurlbert, and later by John 
Cameron as a grocery. It was burned 
Oct. 16. 1870. 

In 1827, Wm. A., James, and Daniel 
Elv formed a new ])artnership and 



86 

did a general mercantile business in 
a new brick building on the south side 
of Front street, two doors east of the 
bridge. This partnership was dis- 
solved in May, 1830, and Daniel Ely 
continued the business. William A. 
and James Ely at the same time 
formed a partnership with Charles 
and Printice Ransom, under the firm 
name of Ely & Ransoms, which firm 
continued in existence until the end 
of the following June, when Charles 
Ransom withdrew from the partner- 
ship. Their store was east of and ad- 
joining that of James Ely, who sold 
his stock to Heggie & Mack, in June. 
1831. James Ely was afterward a 
partner of Jonathan Piatt. Their 
store was on the south side of Front 
street, opposite where Ahwaga hall 
now is. 

William A. Ely was at one time in 
business alone in Caldwell Row, a 
row of wooden shops, stores, and 
dwellings, which was burned in the 
great fire of 1849. It was on the 
north side of Front street and ex- 
tended from Lake street to the line 
between Ahwaga hall and the Ah- 
waga house block. 

Elisha and James Ely at one time 
kept a hat store in Main street, where 
they bought furs and manufactured 
fur and wool hats and caps from the 
raw material. In the spring of 1819 
they sold the business to Col. Chas. 
B. Pixley. In manufacturing wool 
hats Col. Pixley was accustomed to 
dye them and then wash them in the 
sluiceway of the old mill of his father. 
Col. David Pixley, on the west side of 
the Owego creek, near the Indian 
spring, by putting them in the water 
with tongs. Elisha Ely later had a 




WILLIAM A. ELY. 



S7 
hat store above the bridge in Front 
street. 

William A. Ely built the brick 
house on the north side of Front 
street on the second lot east of Church 
street now owned and occupied by 
Mrs. Henry Young. Here he lived 
until his death in 1863. Mr. Ely was 
extensively engaged for several years 
in the manufatcure of lumber, which 
was the most important industry here 
in his day. He was not only a promi- 
nent business man but was also 
active in ])ublic affairs. He was su- 
pervisor of the town of Owego thir- 
teen years between 1824 and 1840. 

James Ely lived on the north side 
of Front street, near William street. 
He removed to Grand Rapids, Mich., 
where he died in 1862. He was super- 
visor of the town of Owego in 1844, 
1845, and 1852, and he represented 
Tioga county in the assembly in 1851. 

Col. Daniel Ely lived in the house 
now occupied by Dr. J.T. Greenleaf in 
Main street. He was postmaster of 
Owego from Feb. 4, 1842, until his 
death in November, 1844. 

Gilbert and Daniel Ely were both 
officers in the state militia. Gilbert 
Ely was appointed ensign in Col. 
Samuel Seymour's regiment of in- 
fantry in 1807. In 1809 Jesse Mc- 
Quigg was appointed ensign "vice G. 
Ely, moved." Daniel Ely in 1822 was 
captain of riflemen in the 145th regi- 
ment. 



88 
GEN. OLIVER HUNTINGTON. 

One of the earliest settlers In Owe- 
go and the first druggist here was 
Gen. Oliver Huntington, who came at 
the age of 23 years with his wife and 
two children to this village from 
Ellington, Conn., in 1804, and lived 
here during the rest of his life. 

At the northeast corner of Front 
and Lake streets stood a small 
wooden building, in which Gen. Hunt- 
ington established the first drug store 
ever opened in Owego. An advertise- 
ment of his store, published in the old 
"American Farmer," may be of in- 
terest here, as it is the first advertise- 
ment of a drug store published in 
this place. 

DRUCS & MKUICINES, ETC. 

Just received from New York and for fale by 
the fubfcriber, a new and sreneral affortment of 
URU(;.S & MEDICINES, confifting of Opium, 
camphor, jallap. calomel, blue vitriol, fenni, 
rhubarb, &c., with various others, too numerou.s 
to be inferted in an advertifenient, and all the 
Patent Medicines that are in moft efteem. 

*E^"Practitioners of Phyfic, and others, may 
be fupplied on as reafonable terms as can be 
obtained at Catfkill, or other places on the North 
river, Olivkr Hinti.n(;ton. 

Oweao Village. July .n ft. hSJO. 

Gen. Huntington lived in a little 
red house which stood on the west 
side of North avenue, a little north of 
Main street. James A. Dean bought 
the lot in the spring of 1866, tore 
down the house and built a brick 
store on the site. This is the third 
store north of Main street and is sepa- 
rated from the store south of it by 
a narrow lane. In the old red house 
Deacon Francis Armstrong lived for 
many years. 

In addition to his drug business 
Gen. Huntington engaged extensively 
in shipping produce of various kinds 
down the Susquehanna river, which 
stream was then the only outlet for 



89 
the products of this part of the 
country. 

In September, 1S04, Gen. Hunting- 
ton had purchased property north of 
this village, lying on the north side 
of the small brook known as the Hunt- 
ington creek, and which was so 
named in honor of him. A little west 
of the highway now known as North 
avenue he built a few years before 
his death a small house, which is 
still standing, although somewhat al- 
tered from its original proportions. 
There he lived during the rest of his 
life. This house was later owned 
and occupied by John .James Beers, 
and afterward the property was pur- 
chased by Ephraim H. House. 

Gen. Huntington was appointed 
sheriff of Broome county Feb. 24, 
1816, and held the office until June 
10, 181 S. He was prominent in mili- 
tary affairs. In 1809 he was ajv 
pointed Second Major in Lieut.-Col. 
Asa Camp's regiment of New York in- 
fantry. The next year he was pro- 
moted to Lieut.-Col. Commandant of 
the 53d regiment, and in 1812 to 
Brigadier-General of the 41st brigade. ■ 

Gen. Huntington was a descendant 
of Simon and Margaret Huntington, 
non-conformists, who left England on 
account of religious persecution and 
came to America in 1663 and settled 
at Windsor, Conn. 

Gen. Huntington was born Dec. 22, 
1771. His first wife was Abigail Tal- 
cott, daughter of Capt. Gad and Abi- 
gail Talcott, of Hebron, Conn. She 
died in Owego June 18, 1815, aged 43 
years. Her body is buried in the 
Presbyterian church yard. His second 



90 

wife was Mrs. Richards, a sister of 
Samuel Avery. 

Gen. Huntington died Nov. 13, 1823. 
Although he was only .52 years of age 
at the time of his death he had been 
commonly known on account of his 
venerable ai)i)earance as "old Gen. 
Huntington." The children of Gen. 
Oliver and Abigail (Talcott) Hunt- 
ington were as follows: 

1. Abigail Huntington, born 25 
Sept., 1796. Married Henry Gregory 
10 Feb., 1818. They lived at Ithaca. 

2. Wait Talcott Huntington, born 
at Ellington, Conn., 9 May, 1798. 
Married Saphronia Carter, of Aurora, 
N. Y., 11 March, 1840. 

3. Orestes Lynde Huntington, born 
at Ellington, Conn., 22 March, 1803. 
Married Harriet Terrill at Ithaca, N. 
Y. He was a cabinet maker. 

4. Horatio Lord Huntington, born 
at Owego, 14 Dec, 180-5. Married 
Ann Turner at Adams, 111., 31 May, 
1839. 

5. Harriet Huntington, born at 
Owego, 3 March, 1808. Married 5 
May, 1833, to Wm. Townley. They 
lived at Albany, 111. 

6. George Oliver Huntington, born 
at Owego 7 Oct., 1810. Married Cor- 
nelia DeKrafft, of Washington, D. C, 
at Quincy, 111., 21 May, 1840. 

Wait T. Huntington, the eldest son 
of Gen. Huntington, removed from 
Owego to Ithaca, where he taught 
school for a short time. Then he en- 
gaged in the mercantile business and 
conducted a brewery, and became a 
man of considerable prominence. He 
was elected clerk of Tompkins county 
in 1837 and served three years. He 
was clerk of the town of Ithaca in 
1826 and 1832, and president of the 
village in 1834 and 1835. He was also 
elected a justice of the peace in 1859. 
In 1860 he removed to Nevv York city, 
where he engaged in the manufacture 



91 

of the now popular calendar attach- 
ment for clocks, of which he was the 
inventor. He for several years held 
a position in the New York post of- 
fice, which he resigned in March, 
1878, in order to spend the rest of his 
life in peaceful retirement. He died 
at the home of his daughter at 
Moravia, N. Y., .Ian. 8, 1881, aged 81' 
years. 

JOHN HOLLENBACK. 

John Hollenback was one of the 
early merchants of Owego. He was 
a large owner of timbered property, a 
manufacturer of lumber, and a man of 
extensive business transactions. He 
was a son of Geo. Hollenback, of Mill 
Creek, a place situated about a mile 
above Wilkes-Barre,Pa., and was born 
November 2, 1780. He came to Owego 
in 1801 or 1802 and began a general 
mercantile business. His first store 
was on the south side of Front street, 
above Lake street. At night he slept 
on a side sole leather on the counter 
of his store. 

Mr. Hollenback was successful in 
all his undertakings. He invested 
largely in real estate. In 1805 he 
owned two hundred acres east of 
Paige street, and in 1815 he was the 
possessor of 856 Vo acres, comprising 
nearly all the land bounded west by 
a line east of Paige street and ex- 
tending a little east of the Little Nan- 
ticoke creek. At the time of his 
death in 1847 he owned about 2.000 
acres of land in a body in and near 
Owego village, together with his 
father's homestead at Wilkes-Barre, 
Pa. 

In 1813 or 1814 Mr. Hollenback had 
the lease of the Onondaga and Mon- 



teziima salt works. In 1814, at the 
close of the war of 1812 he owned all 
the salt that was in the market and 
had it stored in arks on the Susque- 
hanna river at Port Deposit, Md. 
This salt was held from $16 to $20 a 
barrel. Had the war continued a few 
months longer he would have made a 
clear profit of $40,000, but peace was 
declared Dec. 24, and the price fell so 
low that Mr. Hollenback lost about 
$20,000 on his investment. 

Soon after this Mr. Hollenback 
opened a hardware and tin store in 
James Pumpelly's two storj^ wooden 
building, which stood on the north 
side of Front street, a few rods west 
of Paige street. The upper part of 
the building was occupied by Stephen 
B. Leonard as the publication office of 
the Owego Gazette and as a post of- 
fice, Mr. Leonard being the postmas- 
ter. This store, which was then con- 
sidered "out of the village," was af- 
terward converted into a dwelling 
house and is now occupied by A. C. 
Burt. 

About tne year 1832 Mr. Hollenback 
moved down into Judge Drake's store, 
which stood on the south side of 
Front street, opposite Lake street and 
was on the site of the present Central 
drug store. There he remained three 
or four years, and then removed to 
the store that William A. Ely had 
I)uilt and occupied on the south side 
of Main street.opposite North avenue. 

In 1840 he removed once more, this 
time into the Camp store, which stood 
on the south side of Front street, a 
little west of Park street. A little 
later he removed up the street to 
Charles Pumpelly's old store, which 
stood opposite where the Ahwaga 




JOHN HOLLENBACK. 



93 

house now stands, and there he con- 
tmued the mercantile husiness until 
his death, June IZ. 1S47. 

Soon after coming to Owego Mr. 
Hollenback established a branch 
store at Ithaca, in 1S04. which was 
managed by a man named Isaacs. 

Mr. Hollenback was a man of 
strong determination and extraordi- 
nary energy of character. In his cen- 
tennial history of Tioga county, puli- 
lished in ISTfi, William F. Warner 
wrote of Mr. Hollenback as follows: 

"Had this gentleman lived at a 
time when military leadership was 
demanded, he would unqestionably 
have made one of the ablest com- 
manders who ever led an army. He 
dealt largely in the purchase and 
manufacture of lumber. His impaired 
hearing forced him to withdraw from 
social life, and he devoted himself 
assiduously to his extensive business. 
Those, however, who had access to 
him in his home circle, found him a 
genial man and an accomplished con- 
versationalist. He was well in- 
formed, and kept abreast with the 
foremost in all matters of general in- 
terest, although seemingly absorbed 
in business matters." 

While conducting the Ithaca store 
Mr. Hollenback had some trouble 
with Eleazer Dana, one of the early 
lawyers in Owego. In order to annoy 
Mr. Hollenback Mr. Dana waited un- 
til he had left town and got nearly to 
Ithaca, when he served a summons 
upon him and caused his immediate 
return to Owego. Mr. Hollenback 
was so infuriated at this summary 
action that he attacked Mr. Dana with 
a cowhide. Mr. Dana sued him for as- 
sault and recovered $300 damages. 

When Mr. Hollenback began busi- 
ness in Owego he could not agree 
with one of his rivals in the mercan- 



94 

tile business. He employed many 
men in making arks and rafts of lum- 
ber, but for some unknown reason the 
men would leave his employ abruptly 
when he most needed their services, 
and would make no explana- 
tion for their course. Finally 
one man was candid enough to 
inform him that his rival in busi- 
ness was the cause, he telling the 
men that Mr. Hollenback was irre- 
sponsible and they would not receive 
their wages. Mr. Hollenback, with 
his rawhide, went to his business 
rival and threatened to use the whip 
over his shoulders should there be 
any repetition of the trouble. It is 
needless to say that he was subjected 
to no further annoyance. 

Mr. Hollenback was a hard worker 
himself, and would employ none who 
was idle or lazy. It is related of him 
that when an applicant for work came 
to him he v/ould examine the seat of 
his trousers. If it was patched or 
worn, he would give him no employ- 
ment. 

Mr. Hollenback lived in a house 
which stood on the north side of 
Front street, on the third lot west of 
Paige street, later owned by his 
brother-in-law, William Pumpelly. 
The house stood so near the street 
that when Front street was regularly 
laid out and straightened by a sur- 
veyor, the house was left close upon 
the sidewalk. This house, which was 
a large one, was several years after- 
ward cut in two, moved away, and 
converted into tenant houses. 

Mr. HoUenback's wife was Susan 
Welles, daughter of George and Pru- 
dence (Talcott) Welles. They were 
married Sept. 24, 1805. She was 



95 

born Jan. 10, 1783, and died in Owego 
J'eb. 7, 186."). Geo. Welles was a na- 
tive of Connecticut, who settled at 
Athens. Pa., about the year 1800. 

The portrait of Mr. Hollenback, 
which illustrates this article, is from 
a photograph taken by Mr. LaSon 
from an oil painting. The painting is 
the work of Mrs. Hollenback's sister. 
Miss M. A. Welles, who afterward be- 
came Mrs. Wm. Pumpelly. The paint- 
ing was owned by the family of Geo. 
W. Hollenback for many years, and 
it is now the property of Frank M. 
Baker, of Owego. 

Some time previous to his death 
Mr. Hollenback had expressed his in- 
tention of founding some kind of a 
public institution in Owego, by which 
his name would be handed down to 
posterity, and he had made a partial 
will to that effect; but he was taken 
ill while his nephew, Geo. W. Hollen- 
back, who for many years had had 
almost entire charge of his extensive 
lumber business, was down the river, 
and, at the last moment, being un- 
able to carry his intention into effect, 
he devised the greater portion of his 
large estate to his nephew, at the 
same time leaving a portion of the 
property in trust for the support of 
his widow during her life. 

At the time of his death Mr. Hol- 
lenback had one brother, Matthias 
Hollenl)ack, living at Wilkes-Barre. 



96 
GEORGE W. HOLLENBACK. 

The first Hollenback in this countiT 
of whom there is any record was 
George Hollenback, a sturdy Dutch- 
man, who settled in Wyoming county, 
Pa. He had a son, John Hollenback 
(1), who was born about 1720, whose 
wife was Eleanor Jones. Their chil- 
dren were George, Matthias H., and 
.John Hollenback (2). 

George Hollenback was the father 
of John Hollenback, the Owego mer- 
chant. 

Matthias H. Hollenback, a promi- 
nent business man of his day in Penn- 
sylvania, had three children as fol- 
lows: 

Eleanor Jones Hollenback, who 
married Charles F. Welles, of Athens, 
Pa. 

John Welles Hollenback. 

Mary Ann Hollenback, who married 
Gen. John Laning, one of the early 
merchants of Owego. 

The third brother, John Hollenback 
(2) had a son also named John Hol- 
lenback (3), who was the father of 
Geo. W. Hollenback, of Owego. This 
.John Hollenback (3) was born Oct. 
14, 1775, at Martinsburg, Va., under 
the rule of King George HI., but the 
family were not enthusiastically loyal 
subjects.' In 1783, after the declara- 
tion of peace, his parents removed to 
Morgantown, West Virginia, and in 
1793 to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. He was 
engaged for his uncle, Matthias Hol- 
lenback, in trade along the Susque- 
hanna river in 1796. The next year 
he came up the river in a Durham 
boat and established a shad fishery 
at Wyalusing, the first in that part of 
the country. He soon afterward re- 
turned down the river with his boat 
heavily laden with salted shad. In 



97 

1801 he opened a store at Wyalusing, 
which was considered a marvel at the 
time, as he brought 2,400 pounds of 
goods from Philadelphia in wagons 
to Middletown, where they were 
loaded on boats and pushed up the 
river. Mr. Hollenback died at Wya- 
lusing March 13, 1S67, aged 91 years. 

Geo. W. Hollenback who was the 
oldest one of John Hollenback's fif- 
teen children, was born Aug. 2.5, 1806, 
at Wyalusing and came to Owego to 
attend school in 1816, at ten years 
of age, and remained here during the 
summer. December 5, 1828, he came 
again to Owego to live, and was a 
clerk in his uncle, John Hollenback's, 
store until August, 1831. In Decem- 
ber, 1838, he again returned to Owego 
to resume his duties as his uncle's 
clerk, and he lived here all the rest 
of his life. 

From si.\ to nine months each year 
his time was occupied up and down 
the Susquehanna river attending to 
his emi)loyer's lumber business. In 
the fall of 1847, after John Hollen- 
back's death, he entered into partner- 
ship with William H. Bell in the mer- 
cantile and lumber business and the 
partnership continued twenty years. 

Wm. H. Bell was a son of William 
Bell, a farmer, who lived on the West 
Owego creek, about six miles north 
of Owego, where he was born, Nov. 
18, 1811. At an early age he entered 
the store of Martin & Andrews at 
Wysox, Pa., as a clerk. He afterward 
came to Owego and was for three 
years a clerk in David P. Tinkham's 
store. He was next employed in the 
same capacity in the stores of John 
Hollenback and Piatt & Ely. 



98 

In 1S37, Jlr. Bell in company with 
Daniel G. Taylor and W. C. Taylor, 
l)urchased the store of Piatt & Ely 
and conducted the business under the 
firm name of Taylors & Bell until Jan. 
2o, 1839, when Mr. Bell sold his in- 
terest to his partner, who continued 
under the name of D. G. & W. C. Tay- 
lor. Their store was on the south 
side of Front street, the third store 
east of Lake street. Mr. Bell after- 
ward became teller of the old Bank 
of Owego. Sept. 20,1841, he left the 
bank to return to the mercantile busi- 
ness, having purchased W. C. Taylor's 
interest in the store. The new firm 
of Taylor & Bell continued until Nov. 
15, 1847, when Mr. Bell purchased his 
partner's interest. 

January 5, 1848, Mr. Bell, Mr. Hol- 
lenback, and Jacob Hand formed a 
partnership and began a general lum- 
ber business in connection with their 
store under the firm name of William 
H. Bell & Co. They owned a large 
saw mill on the south side of the 
river, a little below the mouth of the 
Owego creek, and a large timber tract 
in the southern iiart of the town of 
Owego. After the burning of their 
store in the great fire of 1849 they 
erected a three-story brick store — the 
sixth one above the bridge — into 
which they removed in December, 
1850. The firm was dissolved Oct. 16, 
1855, Mr. Hand retiring, and Albert 
Newell was received into the partner- 
ship. Sept. 1, 1866, Mr. Newell re- 
tired from the firm. Jan. 10, 1867, the 
firm of Wm. H. Bell & Co. was dis- 
solved and their property was divided. 
Mr. Hollenback took the store and ^Mr. 
Bell the mill and lumber tract. In 
August, 1870, Mr. Bell was stricken 



99 

with paralysis and rendered entirely 
helpless and incapaciated for busi- 
ness. He died at the home of his 
brother, Charles T. Bell, in east Main 
street, April 20, 1876. 

Mr. Hand came to Owego in ISl'li 
from Otsego county and entered the 
lumber business with John R. Drake, 
later purchasing judge Drake's in- 
terest. He died in Owego April 27. 
1874, aged 73 years. 

Upon the dissolution of the partner- 
ship of William H. Bell & Co. Mr. 
Hollenback continued the mercantile 
business with two of his sons, Geo. 
F. and John G. Hollenback, until the 
fall of 1871, when they sold their 
stock and directed their attention to 
the sale of crockery exclusively. In 
October, 1873, they sold their stock to 
D. C. Tuthill and retired from busi- 
ness. 

For many years and until 1856 all 
the ground on the south side of Front 
street east of Paige street was one 
vast lumber yard, where lumber was 
l)iled for shipment down the Susque- 
hanna, while on the river it was being 
continuously made into rafts for ship- 
ment down to a market upon the first 
rise of the water. 

Mr. Hollenback married Miss Jane 
Gordon, of Bradford county. Pa., in 
1837. She died in Owego April 14, 
1881. The family lived several years 
in the house which John Carmichael 
built on the Stei)hen Mack lot in 
Front street. In the summer of 185J! 
Mr. Hollenback built the large brick 
house on the south side of Front 
street, east of John street, where he 
lived until his death on December 30, 
1878. 



100 

Mr. Hollenback was three years a 
member of the board of village trus- 
tees and president of the village of 
Owego in 1854. He was supervisor of 
the town of Owego in 1850, 1851, and 
1855. He was a man of public spirit 
and did much to improve the eastern 
part of the village, laying out new 
streets and contributing to the gen- 
eral improvement. 

Mr. Hollenback's children were Wil- 
liam H., George F., Charles E., and 
John G. Hollenback, and Misses Alice 
and Mary H. Hollenback. 

The Taylors came to Owego from 
Florida, Orange county, N. Y. Col. 
Wni. C. Taylor entered Dr. Jedediah 
Fay's drug store as a clerk in 1833. 
Daniel G. Taylor came in 1836 and the 
brothers the next year entered into 
the mercantile partnership with Wm. 
H. Bell. Col. Taylor was for many 
years station agent for the New York 
and Erie railroad company at Jersey 
City. He died April 9, 1892, in Brook- 
lyn, aged 78 years. In 1861 when 
Gen. D. C. McCallum was appointed 
military superintendent of the rail- 
road of the United States, Wm. C. 
Taylor was ap])ointed manager of all 
the military railroads, to attend to 
their construction, repair, etc., with 
the rank of colonel. 

Daniel G. Taylor lived during the 
latter part of his life in Chicago, 111., 
where he died April 28, 1898, aged X<» 
years. 



101 
THOMAS COLLIER. 

Thomas Collier came to Owego with 
his family about the year ISOS. He 
was born in Boston, Mass., Feb. 20, 
1761. His father, Richard Collier, was 
a brazier. He began an apprentice- 
ship at the printer's trade in the of- 
fice of his uncle, Thomas Draper, who 
printed one of the earliest newspa- 
pers in Boston. His aunt. Margaret 
Draper, an English woman, after the 
death of her husband, Thomas Dra- 
per, conducted the newspaper estab- 
lishment in her own name until the 
beginning of the revolutionary war. 
when, being a royalist in her senti- 
ments, her paper was made the medi- 
um of royal denunciations against the 
"rebels." She suffered some pecuni- 
ary loss on account of her loyalty to 
the king and was compelled when 
Boston was evacuated by the British 
to leave some of her effects behind, 
and among them her printing estab- 
lishment, which fell into the hands of 
the "Yankee rebels." On her return 
to England she was rewarded with a 
liberal pension from the crown. 

John Trumbull.the poet of the revo- 
lution, in his famous "modern epic 
poem," McFingal, written in Hudl- 
brastic verse and published in 1775, 
immortalized Mrs. Draper, speaking 
of her as "Mother Draper" in the 
first canto of the poem. The lines 
read as follows: 

■■ Did not our grave judffe Sewall hit 
The .summit ot newspaper wit. 
Filled everv leaf of every paper 
Of Mills and Hicks, and Mother Draper, 
Drew proclamations, works of toil, 
In true sublime, of scare-crow style. 
Wrote farces, too, 'gainst sons of freedom. 
All for your good, and none would read em. 
Denounced damnation on their frenzy. 
Who died in Whig impenitency ? " 



102 

Thomas Collier did not favor the 
cause of the rebels, so he left Boston 
with his father, under the permis- 
sion given by Gen. Gage after the bat- 
tle of Lexington. He soon entered 
the printing office of the "Norwich 
Packet," a newspaper published at 
Norwich, Conn., by Alexander and 
.lames Robinson and he later com- 
pleted his apprenticeship in the office 
of the "Gazette" at New Haven, which 
was published by Thomas Greene and 
was then the oldest newspaper, with 
one exception, in Connecticut. 

While living in Boston, before the 
outbreak of hostilities, he witnessed 
some of the most exciting events. 
He was present when the tea was 
thrown overboard into the harbor, 
and he became personally, acquainted 
with many distinguished officers. 

Mr. Collier went from New Haven 
to Litchfield, where he conducted the 
"Litchfield Monitor," a good old- 
fashioned, orthodox, federal paper, 
until 1807. Several writers of a high 
order of talent were among its cor- 
respondents, and the paper ranked 
among the leading journals of the 
union. 

At this time Rev. Azel Backus, of 
Bethlehem, afterward president of 
Hamilton college, who was a contribu- 
tor to the paper, was indicted with 
Mr. Collier at the same term of the 
district court for libelling Thomas Jef- 
ferson, then president of the United 
States. They were arrested soon 
after Jefferson's election by a mar- 
shal and taken to Hartford, one for 
preaching and the other for publish- 
ing "false, scandalous, and defama- 
tory matter." Mr. Collier took his 
presses and type to the jail at Har- 



103 
ford, where with Dr. Backus as col- 
laborator, he issued a paper which 
made the air of the nutmeg state blue 
with his denunciations of Jefferson. 
Dr. Backus was the grandfather of 
Charlie Backus, the famous negro 
minstrel and comedian. 

While still conducting the "Litch- 
field Monitor" Mr. Collier established 
the "Gazette" at Troy, N. Y., which 
passed into the hands of Wright 
Goveneur & Stockwell. One of the 
members of this firm, John C. Wright, 
married a daughter of Thomas Col- 
lier. 

When the Colliers came to Owego 
they at first lived in a red house, 
which stood where F. C. Hewitt's 
residence now is, near the southeast 
corner of Front and Church streets. 
The Collier children were John A.. 
James, Daniel, Hamilton A., ^Mar- 
garet, and Nancy Collier. They af- 
terward removed to a house which 
stood on the north side of Main 
street, where Dr. D. S. Anderson's 
house is now, and there Mrs. Collier 
conducted a private school for chil- 
dren. James and Daniel Collier re- 
moved to Ohio. 

Thomas Collier removed with his 
family to Binghamton about 1827. 
That year John A. Collier built a 
housQ in Franklin street in that city 
in which his parents lived the rest of 
their lives. In 1828 he became asso- 
ciated with Abial C. Cannoll in the 
publication of the "Broome County 
Republican," which had been estab- 
lished in 1823 by major Augustus 
Morgan. Cannoll & Collier published 
this paper until 1830, when Mr. Col- 
lier was succeeded by Edwin T. 



104 

l^:vans, Mr. Collier died in Binghain- 
ton in 1S42. 

John A. Collier, who became the 
most prominent of Thomas Collier's 
sons was born Nov. 13, 1787, at Litch- 
field, Conn. He was graduated from 
Yale college, studied law at Troy, and 
came to Owego for the purpose of 
practising his chosen profession, but 
there were at that time fewer law- 
yers in Binghamton than in 
Owego, so he went to Binghamton hi 
1809, where he became one of the 
foremost lawyers in this part of the 
state. He was district attorney of 
Broome county in 1818, and in 1830 
he was elected to Congress. In 1844 
he was elected comptroller of the 
state. During the presidency of Mil- 
lard Fillmore he was offered the col- 
lectorship of the port of SanFran- 
cisco, but declined it. He died in 
Binghamton March 24, 1873. 

When Mrs Margaret Draper went 
to England she took with her her 
niece, a sister of Thos. Collier, then 
a little girl. The niece lived with her 
aunt in London until she was grown, 
and then married a man named Ham- 
ilton, who was for some time clerk of 
the house of lords. It was in honor 
of him that Hamilton A Collier re- 
ceived his name. 

Hamilton A. Collier opened a gen- 
eral county store in the fall of 1823 
in the white store at the northwest 
corner of Lake and Front streets. 
The next spring he removed to the 
south side of Front street opposite 
where the Ahwaga house now stands. 
He later removed into judge Drake's 
building, opposite Lake street. In 
1827 he removed to Binghamton and 
began the study of law in the office 




MAJOR HORATIO ROSS. 



105 
of his brother, John A Collier. In 
1829 he was admitted to the bar. He 
was district attorney of Broome 
county from April 10, 1833, to the 
20th of the following May, and again 
from Dec. 1, 1837, to Feb. 12, 1842. 
He was appointed surrogate in Feb- 
ruary, 1840, and held the office four 
years. He subsequently removed to 
Oberlin, Ohio, where he died in 1865. 

MAJOR HORATIO ROSS. 

Major Horatio Ross, a bachelor, 
was fifty years old when he came to 
Owego in 1805. He was accompanied 
by his two maiden sisters, Misses 
Margaretta A. and Nancy Ross. They 
came from Frederick, Maryland, with 
ninety thousand dollars in their pos- 
session, of which sum each owned 
.$30,000. The father of the Rosses 
owned one of the largest iron works 
in Virginia and was a man of great 
wealth. 

Major Ross and his sisters brought 
two slaves with them. He began a 
general mercantile business here and 
made large investments. He pur- 
chased land on the south side of 
Front street, west of the west line of 
Lake street. On the lot how occupied 
by the fifth store west of the Lake 
street line he built a large wooden 
store and painted it red. The build- 
ing was two stories high in front and 
three stories in the rear, and back of 
it on the river was a wharf, where 
produce, etc., were loaded into ai'ks 
and shipped down the Susquehanna 
to a market. 

Major Ross was unsuccessful in 
business and in 1818 he failed, losing 
all his own money and that of his 
two sisters also. His real estate was 



106 

all sold on a mortgage foreclosure 
in February, 1819. His store was 
subsequently occupied by W. T. Coit, 
dealer in dry goods, groceries, and 
crockery. In the winter of 1826-27 
the building was burned. 

Among Major Ross's clerks were 
Charles Talcott, who afterward be- 
came one of the most successful mer- 
chants in Owego; Chas. Trowbridge, 
who went from Owego, to Detroit 
Mich., and John J. McDowell, who in 
1830 and 1831 represented Tioga 
county in the assembly. After his 
failure in business Major Ross con- 
tinued his residence here. He had 
charge of the Tioga county clerk's of- 
fice as deputy clerk from 1823 until 
his death in 1828. 

Major Ross was a polished south- 
ern gentlemen of the old school, and 
he lived in a manner commensurate 
with his wealth. With his sisters he 
occupied a large white house which 
stood on the north side of Main 
street, nearly opposite Park street. 
This house was later owned and occu- 
l)ied by the widow of Gen. John Lan- 
ing. 

In June, 1805, Dr. Samuel Barclay 
purchased the lot on the northwest 
corner of Front and Ross streets of 
.John Hollenback. There was no 
Ross street there then. Dr. Barclay 
gave a mortgage for a part of the 
purchase. The mortgage was fore- 
closed Oct. 10, 1807,. and Major Ross 
purchased the property for the third 
one of his sisters, Mrs. Arianna Steu- 
art. The house that Dr. Barclay had 
built thereon was occupied by Major 
Ross and his sisters, and when Ross 
street was opened it was named Rosa 
street in his honor. This house was 



107 
for many years after Major RossV 
death the residence of judge Thomas 
Farrmgton and is now owned and oc- 
cupied by Mrs. Benj. W. Loring. 

While living in this house Miss 
Nancy Ross died in July, 1817, aged 
45 years, and her body is said to have 
been the first one buried in the 
Presbyterian burying ground in Tem- 
ple street. After her death Mrs. 
Steuart came from Maryland and 
lived with Major Ross and his sister. 
Miss Margaretta Ross. Mrs. Steuart 
was a woman of wealth and practi- 
cally supported the whole family un- 
til Major Ross's death in November. 
1828, at the age of 73 years. His 
body is buried in the Presbyterian 
churchyard. 

■ In February, 1829. after major 
Ross's death, Mrs. Steuart sold the 
Ross house to Charles Talcott. and 
then removed with her sister. Mar- 
garetta, to Washington. 

Mrs. Steuart's only child. Arianna 
Steuart, became the wife of Gov. 
Smith, of New Hampshire. It is said 
that there was a fourth sister, who 
became the wife of an English earl. 

The portrait of Major Ross accom- 
panying this article is from a photo- 
graph made by Mr. LaSon from a 
water color owned by Wm. H. Ellis. 
The painting was given by Major 
Ross to Charles Talcott and by him 
to Geo. B. Goodrich. It is not known 
who the painter was, but he was an 
artist of good ability, as the portrait 
is a finely executed one. 



108 
ELEAZER DANA. 

The first practising lawyer in Owe- 
go was Eleazer Dana, who came here 
in 1800 and who was the youngest 
son of Rev. Anderson Dana, who lost 
his life in the massacre of Wyoming. 

Rev. Anderson Dana was a grand- 
son of Richard Dana, who was born 
in France April 15, 1612, and who 
died at Cambridge, Mass., in 1690. 
Jacob Dana, his son, who was born 
in 1664, had a son also named Jacob 
Dana, who was born in 1698. Rev. 
Anderson Dana was a son of Jacob 
Dana (2) and was born in 1733. His 
wife was Susanna Huntington. 

Rev. Anderson Dana was a lawyer 
of handsome attainments. He removed 
in 1773 from Ashford, Conn., to 
Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where he became 
a clergyman and was active in estab- 
lishing free schools. In April, 1778, 
he was elected a member to the gen- 
eral assembly, which met at Hart- 
ford, Conn., in May. The Wyoming 
massacre was on July 3, 1778. 

Mr. Dana had just returned from 
his duty as a member of the Hart- 
ford assembly. He mounted his horse 
and rode from town to town, arous- 
ing the people for the coming con- 
flict. Although exempt by law from 
military duty, he entered the ranks 
with his neighbors and rushed into 
the fray. He fell dead early in battle, 
brained by an Indian's hatchet. His 
son-in-law, Stephen Whiton, a young 
schoolmaster from Connecticut, who 
had but a few weeks previous married 
Mr. Dana's daughter, also fell. 

Soon after the massacre Mrs. Dana, 
with Mrs. Whiton, and Mrs. Dana's 
seven young children, on foot and suf- 



109 

feriug many hardships, returned to 
her former home at Pomfret. Conn- 
after an absence of five years. 

Rev. Anderson Dana had five sons. 
One of them. Daniel Dana, vi'as in 
school at Lebanon, preparing to enter 
Yale college, at the time of his 
father's death. He afterward lived in 
this state and was a judge of the 
courts. 

Anderson Dana. Jr., was nine years 
old at the time of the massacre. He 
afterward returned to Wyoming to 
take charge of his father's estate and 
lived on the homestead until his 
death. 

Another son, Sylvester Dana, lived 
at Concord, N. H. 

Eleazer Dana, the youngest son, 
studied law in the office of Vincent 
Matthews at New Town (now El- 
mira) and after his admission to the 
bar, in 1800, came to Owego, where 
he became distinguished in his pro- 
fession. 

In September, 1806, he purchased 
the lot on the north side of Front 
street, on which the residence of 
Lewis H. Leonard now stands. This 
property extended narth to Main 
street, which was then known as "the 
back street," and contained two acres 
of land. There was a barn on the 
west end of the lot and a small yel- 
low house, in which Mr. Dana lived 
several years. His law office was in 
a small building on the bank of the 
river on the opposite side of the 
street. Mr. Dana later built in the 
place of the yellow house a large 
white house, in which he lived until 
his death in 1845. 

Thomas I. Chatfield several years 
afterward became owner of the Front 



110 

street part of the property. He built 
the present large brick residence on 
the lot, after the Dana house had 
been removed to the west side of Cen- 
tral avenue, where it was for several 
years the large double house in the 
row of old wooden buildings, a monu- 
ment to the architectural taste and 
thrift of Dr. James Wilson. 

Mr. Dana was a leading spirit in all 
public affairs. He was one of the in- 
corporators of the old Ithaca and 
Owego turnpike company in 1807, and 
one of the first commissioners of pub- 
lic schools in 1813. He was chosen 
to succeed Capt. Luke Bates as one 
of the trustees of Owego settlement 
in 1813. He was the second postmas- 
ter of the village, appointed April 28, 
1802, and he held the office until May 
11, 1816. During his incumbency the 
office was kept at his law office. He 
was one of the original trustees of 
the Presbyterian church in 1810, and 
held the office during his life. He 
was the first secretary of Friendship 
lodge, F. & A. M., in 1806. He was 
one of the first trustees of Owego 
when it was organized as a village in 
1827 and was also one of the trustees 
of the old academy from 1828 until 
his death. He was supervisor of the 
town of Owego in 1814, surrogate of 
Broome county in 1806, member of 
assembly in 1808-9 and district attor- 
ney of Tioga county from 1823 to 
1826. 

In the centennial history of Tioga 
county (1876) William F. Warner 
says of Mr. Dana: "His tall and 
commanding figure and benignant 
features would have rendered him a 
noticeable person in any community. 
He was, above all, a just man, and his 



Ill 

life was marked by constant acts of 
beneficience." 

Eleazer Dana was born Aug. 12, 
1772. In October, 1801, he married 
Mary Stevens. The children of 
Eleazer and Mary (Stevens) Dana 
were as follows: 

1. Cyrus Dana, born 30 Sept., 1805. 
Married 20 Sept.. 1827, Elizabeth Col- 
lins Stockwell, who was born 1 Sept., 
1806, and died at Owego 27 July, 1847. 
He died 7 Dec, 1847, at Niles, Mich. 
Cyrus Dana was a lawyer and was 
admitted to the bar of Tioga county in 
1827. 

2. Alexander Hamilton Dana, born 
4 July, 1807. Married Augusta Rad- 
cliff 27 May, 1832. He removed to 
New York city, where he died 27 
April, 1887. 

3. Susan Huntington Dana, born 4 
.July, 1807. Married Henry S. Wal- 
bridge 2.5 Dec, 1829, and died 15 Aug., 
1834. 

4. Laura Smith Dana, born 18 
July, 1810; died 14 July, 1828. 

5. Eleazer Stevens Dana, born 20 
July, 1812; died 1 Jan., 1818. 

e". Mary Stevens Dana, born May 
10, 1814. Married Edward Radcliff 14 
May, 1834. Died 9 Jan., 1841. 

7 Charlotte Julia Dana, born 19 
March, 1816. Married George H. 
Jerome 9 July, 1847. Died 25 Aug., 
1893. „^ ^ ^ 

8 Helen Jane Dana, born 2< Sept., 
1817 Married William Fiske Warner 
7 May, 1846. Died 31 Dec, 1885, at 
Waverly, N. Y. 

William F. Warner was for several 
years one of the most prominent resi- 
dents of Owego. He was born Jan. 
18, 1819, at Hardwick, Vt., and came 
to Owego in 1834 and entered William 
Pumpelly's store as a clerk. He lived 
with Mr. Pumpelly's family and soon 
became manager of Mr. Pumpelly's 
business. Later he studied law in Col. 
N. W. Davis's office and was admitted 
to the bar in 1843. He was for nine 



Hi 
years Col. Davis's law partner and 
later a member of the law firms of 
Warner, Tracy & Walker and Warner 
Tracy and Catlin. Mr. Warner was a 
lover of good literature, a student, 
and a man of fine culture and taste. 
He travelled through Europe and 
wrote entertainingly of his travels. 
He was one of the most public 
spirited men in Owego. He organized 
the Owego gas company, of which he 
was president, superintendent, and 
treasurer many years. He was clerk 
of the village from 1848 to 1854, and 
was the first president of the village 
elected direct by the people in 18.54 
under the new charter. He was re- 
elected in 1856 and 1857. 

Mr. Warner was an interested 
student of the history of this country, 
particularly of the Indian history of 
this vicinity. In 1876 he wrote by re- 
quest the centennial history of Tioga 
county. This was a remarkable un- 
dertaking. The time in which to ac- 
complish the work was necessarily 
limited, yet the work was successfully 
accomplished within the time pre- 
scribed. Mr. Warner was also the 
leading spirit in organising the cele- 
bration of the battle of New Town 
and erecting a monument in com- 
memoration thereof in 1879. He died 
at Waverly Nov. 7, 1890. 

One of the law students in Eleazer 
Dana's office was his nephew, Amasa 
Dana, who afterward removed to 
Ithaca and became one of the most 
prominent men in Tompkins county. 
He was a son of Aziel Dana, who was 
a son of Rev. Anderson Dana. 

When Gen. Sullivan had driven the 
Indians from the Wyoming valley, 
Mrs. Anderson Dana and her children 



113 

returned from Connecticut to her 
lonely home, near Wilkes-Barre. 
There Aziel Dana married Rebecca 
Cory, who had escaped the massacre, 
and there Amasa Dana was born in 
1792. 

In 1805, after his father's death and 
when only twelve years of age, Amasa 
Dana walked from Wilkes-Barre to 
Owego with his shoes hanging over 
his shoulder and his bundle of shirts, 
stockings, etc., over the other shoul- 
der, to the home of his uncle, Eleazer 
Dana, He afterward studied law in 
his uncle's office. He held the office 
of district attorney, first judge, and 
member of assembly of Tompkins 
county, and president of the village 
of Ithaca. He was a member of the 
26th and 28th congresses. He died at 
Ithaca Dec. 24, 1867. 

Eleazer Dana died in Owego May 1, 
1845. His wife died Nov. 16, 1860, 
aged 82 years. 

CAPT. ISAAC BARTLETT. 

Among the mechanics who settled 
in Owego in the early part of the 
eighteenth century were Capt. Isaac 
Bartlett and his sons Joseph and 
Robert S. Bartlett, blacksmiths and 
gunsmiths. They came from Salis- 
bury, Conn. They are said to have 
come in 1813. 

The family in America is descended 
from Robert Bartlett, who came from 
England to Plymouth, Mass., in the 
ship "Ann" in 1623. One of his de- 
scendants, Sylvanus Bartlett, was a 
soldier in the revolution, and the lat- 
ter's son, also named Sylvanus, was 
the father of Capt. Isaac Bartlett. 

Capt. Bartlett was born at Ply- 
mouth, Mass., and later lived at Sails- 



bury. Conn., where his children were 
born. He was a blacksmith anJj 
wagon maker, and two of his sons, 
Joseph and Robert S. Bartlett, were 
gunsmiths. The children were 
Joseph, Alvin, Robert S., Isaac L., 
William B., Charles, Eliza, Abigail, 
and Jerusha Bartlett. All of the fam- 
ily did not come to Owego. One of 
the daughters became the wife of 
James Weed, who removed to Wi- 
nona, Minn., and another married 
Chester J. Manning, who was land- 
lord of the old Owego hotel from 183S 
to 1849, and who removed to Water- 
loo, N. Y. 

Capt. Bartlett's blacksmith and 
wagon shop was on the west side of 
Park street, near Main street. In 
.Tune, 1829, Joseph Bartlett had pos- 
session of the shop and tookas a work- 
ing partner Benjamin N. Johnson, 
whom Capt. Bartlett recommended in 
an advertisement as "a gentleman re- 
cently from New England of irre- 
proachable character, a first-class 
workman, of industrious habits." 

In October, 1830, Joseph and Robert 
Bartlett purchased the lot on the east 
side of Lake street between the pres- 
ent post office building and the new 
Owego hotel, which they had occu- 
l)ied a few years. This lot had a 
front of fifty feet on Lake street and 
was 115 feet deep. On the south end 
of this lot was a blacksmith shop, 
said to have been the oldest one in 
the village, of which they had pos- 
session. The same month they pur- 
chased of Charles Pumpelly the lot on 
the south side of Main street, on 
which they built a house. 
This house stood where the Central 
house barn was afterward built and 



115 
where the new theatre is now being 
constructed. James Conklin's wagon 
shop was between this house and the 
old tavern at the Lake street corner. 

There was in those days plenty of 
wild game in the woods, which cov- 
ered much of the country, and there 
was a good demand for guns, particu- 
larly rifles. The barrels for the guns 
were mostly imported from Germany. 
The process of drilling the barrels of 
a rifle by hand was a slow and tedious 
one, usually taking two days. The 
stocks were cut into shape with a 
drawing knife, filed, polished, orna- 
mented with brass or iron work, and 
varnished. 

Joseph and Isaac Bartlett engaged 
in the manufacture of guns. They 
removed to Binghamton in 1829. 
where they continued the manufac- 
ture of fire arms. The engraving on 
the gun barrels was done by Isaac L. 
Bartlett, who was born in 1813, the 
year his father and brothers came to 
Owego, and to perfect him in this 
work he was sent abroad by his 
older brothers to receive instruction. 

There was not a sufl!icient home de- 
mand for all the guns manufactured 
by the Bartletts, and many were sold 
elsewhere. Joseph Bartlett some- 
times loaded them in a stage and 
drove with them to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
the trip occupying several weeks" 
time. There they were shipped in 
boats and sent down the Ohio and 
Mississippi river to New Orleans. 
This was in the days when cash was 
scarce and exchange of goods and 
commodities the rule, and the rifles 
were sometimes exchanged for west- 
ern horses, which were brought to 
Binghamton and converted into cash. 



116 

When the Barlett brothers removed 
to Binghamton their father remained 
in Owego and conducted the black- 
smithing business until the fall of 
1833, when the Owego property was 
sold, and then Capt. Isaac Bartlett 
removed also to Binghamton. 

The business of manufacturing 
guns by hand was discontinued be- 
tween 1850 and 1855, as the manufac- 
ture of guns by machinery had so 
greatly reduced the cost as to make 
hand work unprofitable. Joseph and 
Robert S. Bartlett purchased a farm 
at Port Dickinson where .Joseph and 
Capt. Isaac Bartlett lived the rest of 
their lives. 

Joseph Bartlett was sheriff of 
Broome county from 1844 to 1847 and 
was at one time superintendent of the 
southern division of the old Chenango 
canal. One of his sons was Rev. Wm. 
Alvin Bartlett, who was one of the 
first pastors of the Owego Congrega- 
tional church. As a boy in school he 
was gifted as an elocutionist. His 
career as a clergyman was remarka- 
ble. During his pastorate here the 
old church in Park street which was 
much larger than the present one, 
was filled with large congregations, 
particularly on Sunday evenings, to 
listen to his sermons, which were 
preached with rare eloquence. He 
preached here from Sept., 1857, to 
Aug., 1858, and then went to Brook- 
lyn as pastor of the Elm Place Con- 
gregational church. He was after- 
ward pastor of churches in Chicago, 
Indianapolis, and Washington. He 
has since retired from the ministry, 
and spends much of his time abroad. 

Another son. Gen. Joseph J. Bart- 
lett, was promoted from captain to 



117 
major-general in the civil war, and 
was afterward United States minister 
to Norway and Sweden. 

Robert S. Bartlett died July 21. 
1S81, in Binghamton, aged 72 years. 
After the closing of the gunshop he 
was for more than twenty-five years 
a government mail agent on the Erie 
railroad. Isaac I.. Bartlett, who was 
born at Salisbury. Conn., .Tune 2u. 
1813, and who was associated with 
his brothers in the gun factory, died 
in Binghamton Dec. 20, 1888. 
SAMUEL AVERY. 
Samuel Avery from whom all the 
Owego Averys were descended came 
here with his family in 1803. He was 
born at Groton, Conn., Oct. 17, 1731. 
He purchased land in Pennsylvania 
under the Connecticut title, and, like 
many others, lost it. 

His brother, Christopher Avery, 
settled at Wyoming, Pa., as early as 
1770. In 1774 Christopher Avery 
was appointed one of the four agents 
in behalf of the company of 
settlers to attend the Hartford 
(Conn.) convention. At the time of 
the massacre, in 1778, although ex- 
empt by law% he took post beside his 
neighbors, went into the battle, and 
was killed. 

Samuel Avery was educated for a 
lawyer and soon afterward removed 
to Westminister, Vermont. In Febru- 
ary, 1801, he removed with his fam- 
ily to Tioga Point (Athens), Pa. 
While living there, in 1802, he was 
one of the committee to settle the dif- 
ferences between Connecticut and 
Pennsylvania land companies. Here 
he purchased a large quantity of land 
and began improvements, but was 



lis 

soon brought into ligitation with 
those who had purchased of the heirs 
of William Penn. This was a long 
and costly suit, in which Mr. Avery 
was defeated, losing not only his land 
but his money also. It was from this 
experience that he wrote the same 
year a pamphlet relating to the con- 
flicting titles of Connecticut and 
Pennsylvania under the title of "The 
Susquehanna Controversy Examined, 
Done with Truth and Candor." 

The next year he removed to Owe- 
go. Three years later, August 4, 1806, 
he died here and his body is buried in 
the Presbyterian burying ground in 
Temple street. Samuel Avery's wife 
was Mary Ann Rose, who was born at 
Westminister, Vt. Their children 
were as follows: 

1. Samuel W. Avery, born 22 
.lune, 1779. Married Eliza A. Wattles, 
daughter of Capt. Mason Wattles, at 
Owego Dec, 1806. She died 10 Sept.. 
1814. He died at Nanticoke, N. Y., 7 
Dec, 1828. 

2. Mary Ann Avery, born 4 May. 
1781. Died in Vermont, unmarried. 

3. .lohn Humphrey Avery, born 4 
.\ov., 1782. Died at Owego 1 Sept., 
1837. 

4. Frances Avery, born 9 Sept., 
1785. Married Charles Pumpelly, of 
Owego. Died 21 Oct., 1848. 

.5. Susan Avery, born 31 March, 
1787. Married Nathan Camp, of Owe- 
go. Died 4 Aug., 1813. 

6. Isabella Avery, born 24 .lune, 
1789. Married Levi Leonard, of 
Ithaca. Died 20 Aug., 1842. Mr. Leon- 
ard was a man of some prominence in 
Ithaca. He was president of the vil- 
lage in 1831 and 1832 and was after- 
ward a justice of the peace. 

Samuel W. Avery lived at Owego 
several years but removed to Nanti- 
coke, Broome county, where he kept a 
tavern. After the death of his first 



119 

wife (Eliza A. Wattles) lie married 
Emily C. Avery, daughter of Daniel 
Avery, of Aurora, N. Y. She died 
Sept. 18, 1S22, at Nanticoke, aged 29 
years. 

Samuel W. and Eliza (Wattles) 
Avery had a son, Samuel Mason 
Avery, who was born Aug. 25,1807,and 
who about 1840 married his cousin. 
Mary C. Richards, at Owego. She 
was born in 1S09 and died in 1S51. 
He lived for many years at Jenks- 
ville where he was postmaster twen- 
ty-one years and a justice of the 
peace from 1870 to 1882. He died 
.January 1, 1888. 

The children of Samuel W. and 
Emily (Avery) Avery were Eliza, who 
was married to Richard Morgan, of 
Aurora; Walter Oddie Avery, who 
went to Louisville, Ky., to live, and 
Daniel Avery. 

Rev. K.M. Dwight, registrar of pedi- 
grees of the New York Geneological 
and Biographical society, in January, 
1904, compiled a record of the Avery 
line of descent, showing that Samuel 
Avery was a descendant of Richard 
Neville (1428-1471), Earl of Salisbury 
and Warwick, who is known in his- 
tory as "The King Maker." 

The Earl of Warwick's daughter 
was Isabel Neville, of Warwick cas- 
tle, who married George Plantagenet, 
Duke of Clarence, who was executed 
in 1478 in the Tower of London. 

Her daughter was Margaret Planta- 
genet, who married Sir Richard Pole. 
She was beheaded by Henry VIIL 

Their son was Henry Pole, Lord 
Montague. 

His daughter was Catherine Pole, 
who married Francis Lord Hastings, 
third earl of Huntington. 



120 

Their daughter was Catherhie Has- 
tings, who married Henry Clinton, 
second earl of Lincoln. 

Their son was Thomas Clinton, 
eighth earl of Lincoln and Lord Clin- 
ton. 

His daughter was lady Susan Clin- 
ton, who married Gen. John Humph- 
rey, who in 1641 was appointed major 
general of the Massachusetts Bay 
colony. He lost his property and re- 
turned to England. 

.John Humphrey's daughter was 
Ann Humphrey (or Humfrey) who 
was born in England and who mar- 
ried William Palmes at Salem, Mass., 
in 1G42. 

Their daughter was Susanna Pal- 
mes, who married Capt. Samuel 
Avery at Swanzy, Mass., in 1686. 

Their son, Humphrey Avery, who 
was the father of Samuel Avery, of 
Owego, was born July 4, 1697 at Gro- 
ton, Conn., and died there March 28, 
1786. 

JOHN H. AVERY. 

The second resident lawyer to set- 
tle in Owego was John H. Avery, son 
of Samuel Avery. He was nineteen 
years of age when he came here from 
Westminister, Vt., in 1801. He studied 
law in the office of Gen. Vincent Mat- 
hews at New Town (now Elmira.) 

Gen. Matthews was the first lawyer 
of any importance in this part of the 
state. He was born in Orange county, 
N. Y., in 1766. He began the study 
of law in 1786 in New York city in 
the ofRce of Col. Robert Troup, the 
friend of Aaron Burr. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1790 and came to 
Elmira in 1793. He was the first law- 
yer to settle there. He was a mem- 



121 
ber of assembly in 1904-5 from Tioga 
county (tlien composed of the present 
counties of Chemung and Tioga) a 
state senator, and in 1809 was elected 
to congress from the Fourteenth dis- 
trict, then composed of Cayuga, Sene- 
ca, Steuben, and Tioga counties. He 
removed to Bath in 1S16, and thence 
to Rochester in 1821. He represented 
Monroe county in the assembly 1i 
1826, and was appointed district at 
torney in 1831. 

In 1806 Mr. Avery purchased the 
lot on the north side of Front street 
(lot No. 12 in the old village plot), on 
which in 1809 he built the large house 
now owned and occupied by Dr. E. D. 
Downs. This lot also included the lot 
on which J. C. Kenyon's residence 
now stands and extended back its full 
width to Main street. On the Main 
street end, occupying about one-half 
of the entire lot, was the Avery or- 
chard, the object of occasional preda- 
tory raids of the apple-hungry small 
boys of the neighborhood in those 
days. 

This property was a portion of the 
lands of Elihu Chauncey Goodrich, 
which were seized upon July 21, ISOO, 
by Wm. Woodruff, sheriff, at a suit of 
Jabez Beers for a debt of $47,000 and 
sold to Mr. Avery. 

Mr. Avery's law office was on the 
river bank on the south side of 
Front street and was on land in- 
cluded in the purchase. This office 
was several years ago converted into 
a dwelling house and still stands 
there. 

Mr. Avery practised law most of 
the time alone, but he had various 
partners. In 1813 the firm was Avery 
& Collier, and in 1818 it was Avery & 



122 

Piatt, Wm. Piatt being then his jmrt- 
ner. He was later in partnership with 
Ziba A. Leland. 

Mr. Leland was a college graduate, 
who came to Owego from Vermont, 
where he was born, and formed the 
law partnership with Mr. Avery May 
1, 1820. He was appointed a justice 
of the peace in April, 1822. He re- 
moved to Bath in November, 1822, 
where he served two terms in the 
legislature, and he also served several 
years as first judge. Later in life he 
removed to Auburn and thence to 
Saratoga county, where he died. 

Mr. Avery represented Tioga county 
in the assembly in 1814. He con- 
tinued the practice of law in Owego 
until his death, in 1837. His wife was 
Stella Hinchman, daughter of Dr. 
Josejih Hinchman, of Elniira, whose 
father and grandfather were both phy- 
sicians and were both named Joseph 
Hinchman. At sixteen years of age 
Dr. Hinchman was a soldier in the 
revolutionary army. He afterward 
studied medicine and removed to El- 
inlra in 1793-4. In February, 1795, he 
was appointed sheriff of Tioga county, 
which then comprised within its 
limits Chemung, the present county of 
Tioga. Broome, and a portion of Che- 
nango. He died in July, 1802. 

The children of John and Stella 
(Hinchman) Avery were as follows: 

1. John Humphrey Avery, born 13 
July, 1808. Died 27 July, 1831, at 
Petersburg, Va. 

2. Stella Hinchman Avery, born 12 
Feb., 1810. Married Wm. H. C. Hos- 
mer. 

3. George Waitsall Avery, born 12 
Feb., 1812. Died 23 Dec, 1849. 

4. Susan Palmes Avery, born 29 
Nov., 1813. Married Robert D. Pieron- 
net, of Friendsville, Pa. 



123 

5. Emily Eliza Avery, born 10 Oct.. 
1815. Married Thomas Farrington in 
1835. Died at Owego 5 Aug., 1899. 

6. Charles Pumpelly Avery, born ''> 
.luly, 1817. Died at Owego 31 Aug., 
1872. 

7. .Joseph Hinchman Avery, born 
29 Nov., 1819. Died 9 March. 1821. 

8. Mary Anna Avery, born May 1. 
1S22. Died at Joliet, 111., 4 .June, 1901. 

9. Fannie Catherine Avery, born 
25 Nov., 1823. Died 16 Oct.. 1825. 

10. I^esbia Piatt Avery, born 2 Oct.. 
1825. Married Isaac Newton Jerome. 

11. Guy Hinchman Avery, born 3o 
Aug., 1829. Died in New York city 14 
May,' 1903. 

None of .John H. Avery's sons was 
married. 

William H. C. Hosmer in early litV 
enjoyed considerable celebrity as a 
poet and was Imown in literature as 
"The Bard of Avon." He was born 
May 25. 1814. at Avon. N. Y. His 
father. George Hosmer, was one of the 
most prominent lawyers in the state, 
and Proctor's "The Bench and the 
Bar of New York" devotes sixteen 
pages to his history. Geo. Hosmer 
practised law at Canajoharie and af- 
terward at Avon. His wife was a 
woman of rare accomplishments, 
spoke several Indian dialects, and was 
deeply interested in the history and 
traditions of the red men. 

Wm.H.C. Hosmer was also a student 
oflndianlore and travelled extensively 
aip-ong the tribes of Florida and Min- 
nesota. He was a lawyer. His first 
poem was "Yonnondio, or the War- 
riors of the Genesee," an Indian tale 
in seven cantos, published in 1844. 
His poems were published in 1854 in 
two volumes. He held a position in 
the New York custom house several 
years. He died at Avon May 23, 1877. 
Isaac Newton Jerome was principal 
of the Owego academy from 1844 to 



124 

1847. He came here from Pompey 
Hill, Onondaga county, N. Y. 

Thomas Farrington was born Feb. 
12. 1799, at Delhi, N. Y. At the age of 
thirteen years he acted as orderly on 
the staff of his father. Gen. Putnam 
Farrington, who was a colonel in the 
United States service in the war of 
1812. At the age of 22 he was prin- 
cipal of the Delhi academy. He was 
graduated from Yale college in 1826. 
studied law, and began practice in 
Owego in 1828. He was a trustee of 
the Owego academy from 1829 until it 
was incorporated in the union free 
schools of the village. He represnted 
Tioga county in the assembly in 1833 
and 1840, and was surrogate from 
1835 to 1840. He was appointed State 
Treasurer in February, 1842, and 
served until 1845. In January. 1845. 
he was appointed Adjutant-General by 
Gov. Wright and served until 1846. 
In February, 1846, he was again ap- 
pointed State Treasurer and held the 
office until November, 1847. He was 
judge of Tioga county from 1859 to 
1871. He died in Owego Dec. 2, 1872. 

Charles P. Avery, born at Owego. 
studied law in judge Farrington's of- 
fice. At thirty years of age lie was elec- 
ted judge of Tioga county, and he was 
the first county judge elected under the 
constitution of 1846, making the office 
elective. He held the office two terms 
from 1847 to 1855. He was greatly in- 
terested in Indian history and wrote 
the Susquehanna Valley papers, which 
were published in the St. Nicholas 
magazine in 1853 and 1854. He 
gleaned his information from early 
settlers and was the means of pre- 
serving much valuable matter relat- 
ing to the early history of Tioga 



125 
county that would have been other- 
wise lost. He organized an associa- 
tion of the pioneers of the Susque- 
hanna valley, which in 1852 and a 
few subsequent years held annual 
meetings at Elmira. Owego, Bingham- 
ton, Ithaca, Montrose. Pa., and other 
places. He later removed to Flint. 
Mich. While living there his interest 
in Indian history continued, and in 
June, 1863, under the title of "Treaty 
of Saginaw" he wrote a history of 
various Indian tribes for the Detroit 
Free Press. His health became im- 
paired by the climate of Michigan, 
and in the spring of 1872 he returned 
to Owego, where he died Aug. 31, 
1872, aged 54 years. In the centennial 
history of Tioga county Wm. F. War- 
ner pays this handsome tribute to 
Judge Avery: 

"Few men of the county have been 
gifted by nature with qualities so 
genial and brilliant as those of judge 
Avery. Having a fine, manly person 
and an exceedingly pleasing and win- 
ning address, he was a general favor- 
ite. Nor have many started in life 
with such brilliant prosjjects of suc- 
cess and long and useful life. His 
sudden failure of health and prema- 
ture death were felt as a calamity to 
a large circle of warm friends. He 
will long be remembered for his ex- 
cellent qualities and useful labors." 

John H. Avery died in Owego Sept. 
1, 1837, aged 54 years. His wife died 
Dec. 15, 1871, aged 83 years. 



126 
ELIZUR TALCOTT. 

Elizur Talcott, a son of Col. Ellzur 
Talcott, was born at Glastenbury, 
Conn., Dec. 17, 1750, and came to 
Owego with his family in 1803. He 
was a direct descendant of John Tal- 
cott (the first of the name of whom 
there is any record), who lived at 
Colchester, England, and died there 
in November, 1606. His grandson, 
also named John Talcott, came to 
America from Braintree, England, in 
June, 1632, and settled at Hartford. 
Conn. All the Talcotts in America 
are his descendants. 

Col. Elizur Talcott was a man of 
wealth and note in Connecticut. He 
was one of the purchasers of lands in 
Pennslyvania under the Connecticut 
title and lost his investment. He held 
a commission as colonel of a troop of 
horse previous to and during the war 
of the revolution, and 'served with the 
Connecticut forces on Long Island in 
command of his troop. He was in 
New York city while the British army 
was marching in, and thence was 
taken home ill on a litter, and did not 
again join the continental army. 

His son, Elizur Talcott, came with 
his sons, George Lord Talcott, then 
aged 18 years, and Elizur Talcott, Jr.. 
aged 22 years, in 1802 to Elmira. 
where they were employed in build- 
ing a dwelling house. The next year 
they came to Owego. In 1803, he pur- 
chased of Jared Goodrich of Glasten- 
bury.Conn., two pieces of land in Owe- 
go, one containing fifty acres and the 
other 67 acres. The western bound- 
ary of this land was the Owego creek. 
The eastern boundary was a line 
which passed diagonally across North 
avenue and ran about parallel with 



127 
McMaster street. The south bound- 
ary was a little below Fox street and 
the north boundary was near where 
George street now runs. This land 
had been sold for $2,500 June 28, 1902, 
by Capt. Luke Bates to Jared Good- 
rich, who sold it for the same amount 
to Mr. Talcott Jan. 31, 1903. In Sept.. 
1S05, Mr. Talcott sold the northern 
part of this farm to his son, George 
Lord Talcott. 

Elizur Talcott lived in a large 
frame house, which stood on the east 
side of McMaster street, midway be- 
tween Fox street and the Erie rail- 
road. It was similar to all the large 
farm houses of that time, with a wide 
hall extending from front to rear in 
the middle. Geo. Lord Talcotfs 
house was at the southeast corner of 
Talcott street and the Lehigh Valley 
railroad. It was occupied after his 
death by his son, George Talcott, and 
after George Talcotfs death it be- 
came the property of Wm.H. Thomas, 
who reconstructed it and lives in it 
now. 

The Talcotts were farmers all their 
lives. The land they purchased had 
been partly cleared by the Indians, 
but most of the land from the Owego 
creek east was at that time a forest 
wilderness of lofty pines, gigantic 
oaks, and a dense undergrowth of 
bushes. 

Elizur Talcott took little part in 
])ublic affairs, but in April, 1X2",, when 
the legislature passed an act consti- 
tuting a commission to build a county 
clerk's office in Owego, he was ap- 
pointed one of the commissioners. 

Mr. Talcott died Nov. 28, 1831. His 
wife. Dorothy (Lord) Talcott, died 
April 14, 1839, aged 86 years. The 



128 

children of Elizur and Dorothy (Lord) 
Talcott were as follows: 

1. Lucy Talcott, born 26 Dec, 
1777. Married George Burton. Died 
29 Oct., 1858. 

2. Elizur Talcott, Jr., born Feb. 1, 

1780. Married Betsy Bliss March 1, 
1803. Died 27 Jan., 1867, at the home 
of his son, Wm. H. Talcott, near 
Flemingville. 

3. Prudence Talcott, born 4 Nov.. 

1781. Married David Lord, died 15 
Jan., 1836. 

4. George Lord Talcott, born 3 
Jan., 1784. Married Sarah McQuigg, 
daughter of John McQuigg, one of the 
first settlers at Owego. Died Nov. 30, 
1873. 

5. Hope Talcott, born 10 May, 
1785. Married Erastus Goodrich 27 
Feb., 1812. Died 13 Feb., 1865. 

6. Dolly Talcott, born 23 April, 

1789. Married Jesse Truesdell 15 
March, 1812. Died 17 April, 1856. 

7. Solomon Talcott bom 10 Aug., 

1790. Died 18 Nov., 1795. 

8. Charles Talcott, born 11 March, 
1795. Died 28, Oct., 1861. 

Charles Talcott, the youngest son 
of Elizur Talcott, was for many years 
a prominent Owego merchant. He 
was born at Glastenbury, and came to 
Owego in 1803, the year following the 
removal of his father and brothers 
from Connecticut. He was then 18 
years of age. He entered Major 
Horatio Ross's store as a clerk, where 
he remained until 1816, when he be- 
gan a general mercantile business on 
his own account in Cauldwell Row, 
near the northeast corner of Front 
and Lake streets. About the year 1818 
he sold his store to David Turner and 
built a two-story wooden store, which 
was for many years known as "the 
yellow store," it being painted yellow. 
This store stood on the south side of 
Front street where Dr. J. B. Stan- 
brough's stove store now stands, o])- 



129 
posite the Ahwaga house. This store 
was burned in the great fire of Sep- 
tember, 1849. 

In May, 1831, George B. Goodrich, a 
nephew of Mr. Talcott, entered the 
old yellow store as a clerk, and in 
1837 he became Mr. Talcott's partner. 
The firm was known as G. B. Good- 
rich & Co. After the fire they built 
the building now occupied by Dr. 
Stanbrough on the site of the old yel- 
low store, but did not occupy it. 
They sold it to Walter Ogden in 1851 
and bought a store which the Odd 
Follows had just built. This store is 
the first one east of Lake street, and 
is still occupied by the firm of Good- 
rich & Co. as a dry goods store. Mr. 
Talcott died Oct. 30. 1861. 

Mr. Goodrich was born Dec. 1, 1816. 
in the town of Tioga, and was a son 
of Erastus Goodrich, who represented 
Tioga county in the assembly in 1848. 
In 1864 his son-in-law, William H. 
Ellis, and his son, James W. Goodrich, 
were admitted to the partnership, 
which is still in existence and is the 
oldest business house in Owego. Mr. 
Goodrich was for several years a di- 
rector of the First and Tioga national 
banks and was president of the Owe- 
go national bank from its establish- 
ment until his death. He died Janu- 
ary 8. 1886. 

The children of George Lord and 
Sarah (McQuigg) Talcott were as fol- 
lows : 

1. Mary Talcott, born 24, Feb., 
1807. Died in Owego 19. Sept., 1882. 

2. George Talcott, born April 21, 
1809. Died in Owego 5 June, 1896. 

3 Hope M. Talcott, born Sept. 12, 
1811. Married Charles Ransom, 2 
Oct., 1832. Died 1 May, 1863. 



130 

4. Fanny B. Talcott, born 14 Feb., 
1.S14. Married John J. Sackett, t> 
Sept., 1836. Died 7 Dec, 1863. 

5. Sarah C. Talcott, born March 6, 
1816. Married Geo. B. Goodrich. She 
is still living in Owego. 

6. Lucius I^. Talcott, born 19 June, 
1819. Married Ellen Noyes in May, 
1847. He married second Harriet 
Noyes, 5 Oct., 18.54, sister of his first 
wife. In early life he was a clerk in 
the store of his uncle, Chas. Talcott. 
In 1849 he went with a party of Owe- 
go men to California and thence to 
Olympia, Wash., where he died 20 
.luly, 1898. 

7. Charles Talcott, born 6 Jan., 
1S22. Married Eliza A. Raymond, 17 
Aug., 1863. Died 13 Dec, 186.5. 

8. Charlotte Talcott, born 20 July, 
1S24. Married Thomas H. Cook 10 
June, 1851. Died at Spencer, X. Y., 2 
March, 1879. 

George Lord Talcott died in Owego 
Nov. 30, 1S73. His wife died June 1.5, 
IS 42. 

GEN. JOHN LANING. 

Gen. John Laning, one of the early 
merchants of Owego, was born at 
Lambertsville, N. J., in October, 1779. 
His father at one time kept a ferry at 
Washington's Crossing, New Jersey. 
He is supposed to have come to Owe- 
go in 1801, as in August of that year 
he entered Thomas Duane's store as 
a clerk. In 1803 he began a general 
mercantile business on his own ac- 
count. 

He was a young man of unusual 
force and business ability. He was 
the first Owego merchant who made 
a contract for plaster in the Cayuga 
lake country, and he increased to 
such an extent that he is said to have 
had as many as five hundred teams 
on the road at one time drawing plas- 
ter from Ithaca to Owego. In 1806 
he was also a partner of David Mc- 



131 
Quigg, the first Ithaca merchant, in 
bnsiness at Ithaca under the firm 
name of Laning & Qulgg. 

Mr. leaning had a large storehouse 
on the bank of the Susquehanna 
river, which stood on the ground 
where Truman & Jones's feed store 
now is, the fourth store above the 
bridge. From this storehouse plaster 
was loaded into arks in the water be- 
low in the rear for shipment down 
the river. There was no railroad in 
these parts and an immense trade was 
done in shipping plaster, salt, and 
lumber by the Susquehanna river to 
the Philadelphia and Baltimore mar- 
ket. 

About the year ISOo Gen. Laning 
formed a partnership in the lumber 
manufacturing business with Guy 
Maxwell, of New Town (now Elmira), 
under the firm name of Maxwell <.^' 
Laning. They purchased considera- 
ble land on the east side of the Owe- 
go creek, northwest of this village, 
and engaged in the manufacture of 
lumber. This partnership continued 
until the spring of 1811 when Mr. 
Maxwell sold his interest in the real 
estate to Gen. Laning, together with 
the sawmill thereon. 

Mr. Maxwell was a son of Alexan- 
der Maxwell, of Claverack, England. 
In June, 1770, Alexander Maxwell and 
his wife embarked from a Scottish 
port for America, but were ship- 
wrecked in the Irish channel and 
landed on the coast of Ireland, where 
Guy Maxwell was born July 15, 177(i. 
He was two years of age when he 
came to Virginia with his i)arents. 
who settled at Martinsburg. He was 
apprenticed to the mercantile trade 
(as was the custom in those days) at 



132 

Pittsburgh, Pa., his term of appren- 
ticeship expiring in July, 1788. In 
company with Samuel Hopkins he 
opened a store at Tioga Point 
(Athens) in the following September 
and sold goods in a store building 
owned by Matthias HoUenback. In 
August, 1796 he removed to New 
Town (Elmira), where he had bought 
one hundred acres of land in what is 
now the most valuable business part 
of that city. 

In 1790 he acted as secretary to 
Col. Timothy Pickering, the principal 
negotiator on the part of the govern- 
ment when Red Jacket, Cornplanter, 
BigTree,and about 1,200 other Indians 
were gathered at New Town in No- 
vember, 1790, for the purpose of hold- 
ing a treaty with the United States. 
He was appointed sheriff of Tioga 
county by Gov. Clinton and served 
from February, 1800 to January, 1801. 
He built the first flouring mill at New 
Town. He died February 14, 1814. 

Guy Maxwell was the father of 
William Maxwell, of Elmira, who was 
district attorney and surrogate of 
Tioga county, and of Thomas Max- 
well, who was clerk of Tioga county 
and afterward postmaster of Elnpra. 
Thomas Maxwell was the father of 
Mrs. Abram H. Miller, of Spencer, 
later of Owego. 

Mr. Laning's store was in a room 
that was afterward the barroom of 
the old Franklin house, which stood 
on the north side of Front street, east 
of Court street. This store stood 
where the third brick store east of 
Court street now stands. Gen. Lan- 
ing bought the property in February, 
1804. The lot was just one-fourth of 



133 
the present square bounded by Front, 
Lake, Main, and Court streets. 

Gen. Laning was only forty-one 
years old when he met with his death 
by accident. February 12, 1820, he 
fell through a trap door in his store- 
house to the cellar below and was 
killed. 

Among Gen. Laning's clerks were 
Jonathan Piatt, Benjamin Durham, 
and Asa H. Truman, all of whom 
afterward became successful mer- 
chants. 

The old storehouse was torn down 
about 1835 by Gen. Laning's widow, 
who erected a store on its site for her 
son, Matthias H. Laning. This store 
was afterward occupied by Rayns- 
ford, Drake & Co.. and later by John 
Bassett, who in February, 1839, set it 
on fire for the purpose of defrauding 
an insurance company, and who, 
when he was about to be arrested for 
the crime committed suicide by cut- 
ting his throat with a razor. 

Gen. Laning derived his military 
title from his service in the state 
militia. In 1811 he was adjutant in 
the regiment of which Gen. Oliver 
Huntington was the colonel com- 
mandant. In 1817 he was colonel of 
the 53d regiment of infantry. In 1819 
he was promoted to brigadier-general 
of the 41st brigade of infantry and 
held this commission at the time of 
his death. 

Mrs. Laning was Mary Ann Hollen- 
back, daughter of Matthias Hollen- 
back, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. After her 
husband's death she continued to live 
in a large white house which stood on 
the north side of Main street, nearly 
opposite Park street, and there she 
died March 1, 1854, aged 71 years. 



134 

The children of Gen. John and 
Mary Ann (Hollenback) Laning were 
as follows: 

1. Augustus C. Laning, who re- 
moved to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 

2. Mathias H. Laning, who re- 
moved in 1835 to Wysox, Pa., where 
he kept a store and built a large sec- 
tion of the North Branch canal. He 
died there 3 May, 1890. 

3. Mary Ann Laning, who married 
,Tohn S. Rosette, of Philadelphia. 

4. Sarah Laning, who was the first 
wife of Dr. Ezekiel B. Phelps and who 
died at Owego 3 Nov., 1842. 

5. Ellen H. Laning, who married 
Mr. Picking. 

6. Emily G. Laning, who married 
John J. Taylor in 1837 and died in 
Owego 25 Nov., 1879. 

7. John C. Laning, who lived at 
Owego and died here 18 May, 1897. 

Mr. Picking and Mr. Rosette were 
business partners and conducted a 
wholesale dry goods store in Phila- 
delphia. 

John J. Taylor was one of the 
ablest lawyers of his time in Owego. 
He was born April 27, 1808, at Leo- 
minster, Mass., and was graduated 
from Harvard university in 1829. He 
studied law in Troy, N. Y., and came 
to Owego in 1834, where he soon 
ranked as one of the ablest lawyers 
in southern New York. He was dis- 
trict attorney of Tioga county from 
1841 to 1843. In 1846 he re])resented 
Tioga county in the constutional con- 
vention, and was also a supreme 
court commissioner. He was a mem- 
ber of the 27th congress in 1852-4, 
where he gained some distinction as 
a speaker, particularly on account of 
his speech on the Kansas-Nebraska 
bill. In 1858 he was the Democratic 
candidate for lieutenant-governor of 
this state on the ticket with judge 



135 
Aniasa J.Parker for governor. He was 
prominent in securing the construc- 
tion of tlie Southern Central railroad 
from Owego to Auburn, and was one 
of the original directors of the road 
and vice-president. In September, 
1S69, he was chosen president, and 
was re-elected several times there- 
after. He was also president of the 
the old National Union Bank of Owe- 
go. He died at Owego July 1, 1892. 

JOHN PUMPBLLY. 

John Punipelly, the father of James, 
Charles, William, and Harmon Puni- 
pelly, all of whom became distin- 
guished citizens of Owego, was born 
in 1727. 

The name Pumpelly, is of Italian 
origin, and at different periods it has 
been spelled Pompili, Pompilli, Pum- 
pilly, Pompilie, Pumpely, and in va- 
rious other ways. The name is said 
to be a corrupted form of the name 
Pompilie, or Pompilly, which are 
French forms of the very ancient sur- 
name of Pompili, and the last way of 
spelling the name is found in the ar- 
chives of the city of Spoletto, near 
Rome, one Signer Pompili having dis- 
tinguished himself in the defence of 
one of the gates of Spoletto when Fred- 
erick Barbarossa laid seige to that 
city. The traditions of the American 
branch state that the family came 
from Avignon, France, and becoming 
Protestants emigrated to the French 
kingdom and afterward fled to Cana- 
da. 

Jean Pompilie, the French Hugue- 
not, who emigrated to Canada, had a 
son, John Pompily, who came from 
Canada to Massachusetts in the early 
part of 1700. He is said to have run 



136 
away with and married a Miss Mun- 
roe, a young girl with some fortune 
and much beauty, who after his death 
married a clergyman named Glover. 

His only son, .John Pumpely (so he 
himself wrote the name), the subject 
of this sketch, was born in 1727, one 
month after the death of his father. 
He was brought up in the household 
of Mr. Glover, and at the age of 
eleven or twelve years ran away and 
enlisted as a drummer In Capt. John 
Loring's company of the king's ser- 
vice. He served through the whole 
French and Indian war as a member 
of Capt. Rogers's rangers and was 
promoted as sergeant for distin- 
guished bravery while bearer of dis- 
patches for the relief of Fort William 
Henry, carrying the dispatches safely 
through a country infested with hos- 
tile Indians. The last few miles of 
this dangerous expedition were made 
in a dead run, chased by three In- 
dian warriors. It is said that he 
stood near Gen. Wolfe when Wolfe 
was mortally wounded at Quebec and 
that he himself was wounded at the 
same time. He also served as a revo- 
lutionary soldier and was commissary 
to Gen. Israel Putnam at the time of 
Burgoyne's surrender, and traditon 
says that he was the means of saving 
the life of that distinguished officer 
when Putnam fell into a lake during 
a skirmish. 

.lohn Pumpelly was twice married. 
His first wife was Eppen Hillebrantz 
Meijer (called in this country Appy 
Meyers,) a young woman of Dutch 
descent, whom he married in 1759 at 
Halifax, Novia Scotia, while he was 
in the army. She died in 1809, aged 
0:? years. 



137 
The five sons and two daughters of 
John and Eppen (Meijer) Pumpelly 
were as follows: 

1. Bennet Pumpelly, born 16 June, 
1761. Married Mary Irish in the town 
of Turner, Maine, 23 March, 1815. 

2. Betsy Pumpelly, born 13 Sept., 
1763. 

3. Appv Pumpelly, born 20 Dec, 
1764. Married Daniel Merrill, Jr., in 
1821. 

4. John Pumpelly, born 8 Jan., 
l'?67. ^ ^ , 

5. Ruel Pumpelly, born 16 Feb., 

6. Barnard Pumpelly, born 4 May, 
1770. He was killed in St. Clair's de- 
feat. 

7. Capt. Samuel Pumpelly, born 
10 Sept 1773. He was married twice. 
His first wife died 19 Dec, 1820. He 
married second, Hannah Doten.widow 
of Holmes Doten, and daughter of 
John Bess, of Paris, Maine. He died 
10 Nov., 1819. 

Bennet Pumpelly served in the con- 
tinental army during the revolution 
and was a personal friend of Lafay- 
ette,who when in Boston, in 1824, sent 
a special invitation to Mr. Pumpelly 
to visit him. He was a sergeant ma- 
jor in Col. Weissenfield's regiment, 
and served through the whole war. 

John Pumpelly lived first at Pem- 
broke, Mass., and afterward at Salis- 
bury, Conn. His second wife was 
Hannah Bushnell, daughter of Capt. 
Samuel Bushnell, of Salisbury, Conn. 
The children of John and Hannah 
(Bushnell) Pumpelly were as follows: 
1 James Pumpelly, born 20 Dec, 
1775 at Salisbury, Conn. Married 
Mrs Mary (Pixley) Tinkham, widow 
of Dr Samuel Tinkham, of Owego, 
7 April, 1805. He died at Owego 
4 Oct., 1845, and she 4 June, 1848. 

2. Jerusha Pumpelly, born in the 
state of New York in 1778. Died 22 
Nov., 1793, at Salisbury, Conn. 



138 

;;. Charles Pumpelly, born 18 Dec, 
1779, at Salisbury, Conn. Married 
Frances Avery, daughter of Samuel 
Avery, of Owego. 2 Sept., 1803. He 
died at Owego 6 Jan., 1855, and she 21 
Oct., 1848. 

4. Maria Pumpelly, bom 14 — , 

1785, at Salisbury, Conn. Married 
Abner Beers. She died at Owego 3 
Dec, 1858. 

5. Mary Pumpelly, born 23 Nov., 

1786, at Salisbury, Conn. 

6. William Pumpelly, born 17 .lune, 
1788, at Salisbury, Conn. Married 
Sarah Emily Tinkham, daughter of 
Dr. Samuel Tinkham, in June, 1814. 
She died 31 March, 1822. His second 
wife was Mary H. Welles, daughter of 
George Welles, of Athens, Pa., whom 
he married 20 Oct., 1824. He died at 
Owego 16 Nov., 1876. and she in Paris, 
France 14 Dec, 1879. 

7. Harriet Pumpelly, bom 10 Nov., 
1791, at Salisbury, Conn. Married 
David McQuigg. who was a son of 
Capt. John McQuigg, one of the earli- 
est settlers at Owego. He was one of 
the earliest merchants at Ithaca. 

8. Harmon Pumpelly, born 1 Aug., 
1795, at Salisbury, Conn. His first 
wife was Delphine Drake, daughter of 
judge John R. Drake, of Owego. His 
second wife was Maria Brinkerhoff, 
daughter of Peter Brinkerhoff, of Al- 
bany, N. Y., whom he married in 1841. 
He died 29 Sept., 1882, at Albany, and 
she 22 Ai)ril, 1887. 

John Pumpelly, with his second 
wife and five of their children came 
from Salisbury in May, 1802 to the 
state of New York. They crossed the 
Hudson river at Catskill and came 
thence through a wild country, with 
now and then a clearing, to Owego. 
The settlement here then was small, 
composed of a few unpainted frame 
houses, with occasionally a log one, 
and mostly scattered along on each 
side of the then crooked highway, 
which is at present known as Front 



139 
street. What is now the village was 
then covered with woods. 

William Pumpelly, who was but 
thirteen years old at that time, in- 
formed the writer a few years before 
his death that when the party turned 
from Front street into the road which 
extended north and ran about where 
Lake street is now they passed 
through ])ine woods, the trees in 
which were of such great size that in 
his youthful imagination they seemed 
to touch the sky. The family pro- 
ceeded on their way north to their 
destination, then known as Beers's 
settlement, in the town of Danby. 
Tompkins county. At that time the 
only house where Ithaca now stands 
was a log hut, hardly suitable for a 
pig pen. 

John Pumpelly lived at Beers's set- 
tlement in the old house, which is 
still standing, imtil his death on July 
11. 1819, aged 92 years. His wife, 
Hannah Pumpelly, after his death 
came to Owego to live and at her 
death on Dec. 31, 1832, his body was 
brought to Owego. Their remains are 
interred in the Presbyterian burying 
ground in Temple street. A portrait 
of John Pumpelly is in the possession 
of the Albany branch of the family. 



140 
ABNER BEERS. 

Abner Beers, who married John 
Pumpelly's daughter, Maria, was born 
at Stratford, Conn., Dec. 7, 1777. He 
was a descendant of James Beers, 
who lived in Gravesend, Kent, Eng- 
land, where James's brother, Richard, 
also resided. James was a mariner 
and died in 1635. He had two sons, 
James and Anthony, who in that year 
came with their uncle, Richard Beers, 
to Watertown, Mass., where Richard 
was a representative to the general 
court thirteen years and a captain in 
the military service. He was mor- 
tally wounded in King Philip's war at 
Westfield, Mass., and died Sept. 4, 
1675. 

Anthony Beers, son of James, of 
Kent, removed from Watertown to 
Fairfield, Conn., in 1659. He was lost 
at sea in 1676. He had nine children, 
of whom Barnabas, the youngest, was 
born Sept. 6, 1658. Barnabas also had 
nine children, of whom the youngest 
Abner Beers (1) was born Dec. 6, 
1736. He married Hannah Beardslee 
Oct. 6, 1761. They had eight chil- 
dren, of whom Abner Beers (2), the 
youngest, was born Dec. 7, 1779. 

Three brothers of Abner Beers (2), 
Nathan, Jabez, and Rev. Lewis Beers. 
M. D., came from Stratford, Conn., 
and settled at Beers's settlement 
(now Danby), in Tompkins county, 
in 1797. Abner Beers (2) came there 
later, in 1804, and in 1806 he opened 
a store in a log house. When the 
brothers had become fairly settled 
they brought their father, Abner 
Beers (1) and their mother from 
Stratford to Beers's settlement, they 
later removing to a farm in the town 
of Spencer, in Tioga county, where he 



141 
was living in July, ISOS. when he 
made his will. He died Jan. 3, ISIG. 
and she April 10, 1S17. 

When Dr. Lewis Beers, who had 
been a practising physician at Strat- 
ford, came to Tompltins county he 
bought two hundred acres of land and 
his brothers bought one hundred acres 
each adjoining. Dr. Beers added by 
other purchases until he was one of 
the largest land owners in the county. 
He was the first postmaster and the 
first justice of the peace in the town 
of Danby, receiving his appointment 
m 1S07 from Gov. Tompkins. He was 
later appointed judge of the court of 
common pleas. He was the first and 
only president of the Owego and Ith- 
aca turnpike company from 1812 to 
1841. He was a physician, farmer, 
minister of the gospel, and merchant. 
He was 81 years of age at the time of 
his death in 1849. 

Jabez Beers was a justice of the 
peace and succeeded his brother as 
judge. He was a member of assembly 
in 1812-1813. He was a carpenter and 
erected the first frame building at 
Ithaca. 

About the year 1812 Abner Beers 
(2) kept a tavern five or six miles 
this side of Ithaca. Later he removed 
to the town of Candor, where he en- 
gaged in farming and lumbering. He 
came to Owego to live in 1818. He 
lived on the south side of Front 
street, west of McMaster street. His 
house was on the lot now owned 
by Mrs. Eliza J. Pride and stood about 
tw^enty feet back of the well which 
supplied the family with water and 
which well is still in use and is near 
the sidewalk. 



142 

Mr. Beers was a carpenter and 
builder. He built the first Tioga county 
clerk's office in 1825 and the old 
Owego academy in Court street in 
1827. The next year he also built the 
first bridge across the Susquehanna 
river at the foot of Court street from 
the plans of Ephraim Leach, and he 
died the same year. 

His children were Harmon. Eli. 
David, Mary, Abner, Charles, Frances, 
and John James Beers. 

Dr. Eli Beers was a physician at 
Dan by. 

Col. Abner Beers was born June 24, 
1812, at Beers's settlement. In 1846 
he went to Yazoo, Mississippi, where 
for many years he was a planter. He 
came to Owego in 1878 and died here 
May 30, 1881. 

David, Charles, and John James 
Beers lived at Owego. Charles Beers 
was born June 4, 1819, in this village 
and lived here all his life.He was en- 
gaged in the livery business and farm- 
ing several years. His livery barn 
was on the east side of Lake street 
where the post office now stands and 
was burned in 1872. He died Dec. 29, 
1891. 

John James Beers was a farmer and 
lived on the farm which after his 
death became the property of E. H. 
House on the north side of the Hunt- 
ington creek and west of the old 
Owego and Ithaca turnpike. He died 
May 2, 1880. 

David Beers was for many years a 
merchant at Owego. He was born 
April 20, 1809, at Beers's settlement. 
In 1820, two years after his coming to 
Owego, when he was only twelve 
years of age, he began business on his 



143 
own account by permission of liis 
father. 

His first speculation was tlie pur- 
chase of shad of the river fishermen. 
At that period there were no dams 
in the Susquehanna to prevent shad 
from coming up the stream in the 
spring, and the fish were tal<;en here 
in large quantities during the shad 
season. He purchased shad of the 
net-owners and went every other day 
to Ithaca with a load of these fish, 
finding a ready sale for them at the 
many taverns on the road and in 
Ithaca. 

With the proceeds of these sales 
Mr. Beers was enabled to begin busi- 
ness in a small way as a grocer in one 
of the stores in Cauldwell row, on the 
north side of Front street, a little 
east of Lake street. 

His first stock of goods was bought 
for him in New York by William Pum- 
pelly, who forwarded them with his 
own goods to Catskill, whence they 
were brought by teams to Owego. Af- 
ter a time he removed to the south 
side of Front street, adjoining judge 
Drake's store. Later he went to Apa- 
lachin, which was at that time an im- 
portant lumbering point, where he 
built a store and conducted a general 
mercantile business two years. His 
goods, which he then received by the 
way of Ithaca, he sold in exchange for 
long shingles, which he shipped down 
the river in arks to market. He sold 
his store and stock of goods to Aaron 
Steele and returned to Owego. 

John Kinney, a tailor, owned a 
house and lot on the west side of 
Lake street, the same lot on which 
M. A. Lynch's saloon now stands. Mr. 
Beers bought the property and opened 



144 

a meat market. He subsequently con- 
verted the lower part of his house hi- 
to a store, where in company with 
his brother-in-law, Albert R. Thomas, 
he conducted a general country store 
until the building was burned in the 
great fire of 1849. He immediately 
rebuilt. Two years later he pur- 
chased Mr. Thomas's interest in the 
store and continued the business 
alone until September, 1866, when he 
sold the property to Martin Ashley. 

A short time previous to the fire of 
1849 the general country stores grad- 
ually discontinued the sale of many 
articles of merchandise such as are 
now found only in crockery, hard- 
ware, and grocery stores, but Mr. 
Beers continued to keep the stock of 
a general country store the same as 
during the early mercantile days of 
Owego, until he retired from business. 
He removed to Brooklyn, where he 
died Dec. 27, 1890, at the home of his 
daughter, Mrs. Charles O. Anderson. 

Abner Beers (2) died at Owego 
Sept. 7, 1828. 




JAMES PUMPELLY. 



145 
JAMES PUMPELLY. 
James Pumpelly, the eldest son of 
John Pumpelly, was one of the most 
progressive men that ever lived in 
Owego. He was a self-made man. 
His enterprise and public spirit were 
manifested when the village was at 
its formative period, and it is largely 
due to him that its advancement was 
so rapid. He was foremost by reason 
of his wealth in every public enter- 
prise. He was a leading spirit in es- 
tablishing turnpikes, in building the 
old Ithaca and Owego railroad, in 
building the first steamboat on the 
Susquehanna river built for commer- 
cial purposes, and in preparing the 
way for the construction of the New 
York & Erie railroad to Owego. At 
the convention at Owego Dec. 20 and 
21, 1831, of the people from all along 
the line, representing fifteen or six- 
teen counties, to advocate the applica- 
tion to the legislature for a charter 
for a railroad from New York to Lake 
Erie, he was one of the vice-presi- 
dents. 

When the Pumpelly family came to 
Beers's settlement from Connecticut 
in 1802 James Pumpelly was 
28 years old. He rode the entire dis- 
tance on horseback. He was a sur- 
veyor, as was also his father. The 
family was not in prosperous circum- 
stances. There was an old story that 
when James Pumpelly came to Owego 
to engage in surveying he had only 
fifty cents in his possession, with 
which he purchased a hatchet to cut 
away the brush while surveying in the 
woods. This story was not exactly 
correct, but it had some foundation 
in truth. 



146 

One of Mr. Pumpelly's early ac- 
quaintances was Zelotes Robinson, 
who lived within twenty miles of 
Salisbury, and they knew each other 
before coming to Owego. Mr. Robin- 
son for five years from 1818 con- 
ducted Mr. Pumpelly's saw and grist 
mills at Jenksville, and for five years 
afterward he conducted one of iMr. 
Pumpelly's farms. It was while thus 
engaged that Mr. Pumpelly told Mr. 
Robinson how he came to Owego with 
a party of surveyors, having obtained 
a job of surveying, and all the money 
he had was five New England shil- 
lings. While sitting with an impe- 
cunious friend on the bank of the 
river, near where the Court street 
bridge now is, Mr. Pumpelly divided 
the five shillings equally with this 
friend. 

Mr. Pumpelly began his work here 
with a surveying party an an axe- 
man. One of the party was the father 
of Gov. Hawley, of Connecticut. Mr. 
Pumpelly later became agent for the 
owners of large tracts of land in the 
"Twelve Townships," and with the 
aid of his brothers, William and Har- 
mon Pumpelly, he surveyed that im- 
mense territory. He was agent for 
lands on both sides of the Owego 
creek its entire length, and estab- 
lished a land office in Owego. He 
purchased lands in large tracts on his 
own account and sold portions of 
them from time to time at a hand- 
some profit. As is usually the case, 
many purchasers failed to make their 
payments in full and forfeited what 
they had already paid, allowing the 
land to go back into Mr. Pumpelly's 
possession, to be sold again. 



147 

Mr. Pumpelly and Joshua Ferris, of 
Spencer, surveyed the several sec- 
tions knowii as Watkins & Flint's 
purchase. This laaid comprised about 
363,000 acres, including the present 
towns of Candor and Spencer. A de- 
scription of this tract may be found 
on page 20 of Gay's "Historical Gaz- 
eteer of Tioga County," published in 
1S8S. 

Mr. Pumpelly's real estate trans- 
actions were extensive, and he soon 
became the largest land owner in this 
part of the state. 

On the north side of Front street, 
opposite Dr. Samuel Tinkham's house, 
was Dr. Tinkham's office. This office 
was after Dr. Tmkham's death occu- 
pied by James Pumpelly as a land of- 
fice and it remained there until No- 
vember, 1880, when it was removed to 
the east side of Academy street and 
converted into a small dwelling. 

Mr. Pumpelly married the widow of 
Dr. Samuel Tinkham April 7, 1808, 
six months after Dr. Tinkham's death. 
She was the daughter of Col. David 
Pixley, who died in August, 1807, leav- 
ing much real estate. The property 
of both Dr. Tinkham and Col. Pixley 
naturally came under control of Mr. 
Pumjielly. 

Dr. Tinkham was living at the time 
of his death in the house built by 
James McMaster on the south side of 
Front street, east of Academy street, 
on the lot where M. A. Lynch's house 
is now. There is a well on this lot. 
The house stood on the west side of 
the well and a carriage house on the 
east side. After his marriage Mr. 
Pumpelly moved into the house and 
lived there until 1829, when he built 



us 

the large brick house which stands 
at the northeast corner of Front and 
Chapel (now Academy) streets. 

The lot on which this house stands 
then comprised all the land west of 
the lot on which Mrs. A. Chase 
Thompson's residence stands and was 
bounded by Front, Chapel, and Main 
streets. When this house was built it 
was the largest and most expensive 
one anywhere in this part of the coun- 
try and created widespread comment. 
It was predicted by the knowing ones 
that the investment of so much money 
in a house would ultimately cause 
the financial ruin of the owner. 

Mr. Pumpelly moved into the house 
when it was completed and lived 
there until his death on Oct. 4, 1845. 
At the time of his death he was the 
largest land owner and wealthiest 
man in Owego. His wife survived him 
nearly three years, dying June 4, 1848. 

While living in the McMaster house 
Mr. Pumpelly is said to have reared 
his own children and those of Dr. 
Tinkhamwith strict impartiality. Two 
of his sons, George J. and Frederick 
H. Pumpelly, and one of Dr. Tink- 
ham's sons, David P. Tinkham, were 
sent to college and were graduated, 
George J. Pumpelly from Yale and the 
others from Union. The other chil- 
dren did not aspire to a higher educa- 
tion and received their instruction at 
the village schools and the Owego 
academy. 

Mr. Pumpelly by reason of his 
wealth and prominence, was at the 
head of nearly every public enter- 
prise. He was president of the old 
bank of Owego, treasurer of the Owe- 
go and Ithaca turnpike company, pres- 
ident of the Owego turnpike company. 



149 

president of the Owego academy from 
its construction in 1S27 until his 
death, president of the old Ithaca and 
Owego railroad company, president 
of the Susquehanna steam navigation 
company, which built the first steam- 
boat on the Susquehanna river for 
commerciai purposes in 1835, and the 
first president of the village of Owego 
from its incorporation in 1827, holding 
the ofhce five consecutive years by 
re-election. In 1810 he re])resented 
Brome (now Tioga) county in the as- 
sembly of this state. 

The children of James and Mary 
(Pixley) Pumpelly were as follows: 

1. George James Pumpelly, born 
11 Dec, 1815, at Owego. Married 
Susan Isabella Pumpelly, daughter of 
Charles Pumpelly, 24 April, 1822. He 
died at Owego 9 May, 1873, and she 
30 July, 1864. 

2. Lydia Abby Pumpelly, born 13 
Feb., 1808, at Owego. Married Dr. 
Ezekiel Lovejoy. Died 28 Nov., 1881. 

3. Frederick Henry Pumpelly, born 
13 Jan., 1810, at Owego. Married 
Sarah Hewitt, daughter of Gurdon 
Hewitt, of Owego. He died 15 May, 
1867, at Owego, and she 28 June, 1881, 
in Paris, France. 

4. Mary Eliza Pumpelly, born !i 
April, 1814, at Owego. Married, first. 
Robert Charles Johnson, from whom 
she obtained a divorce. She married 
second, William H. Piatt. She died 
24 Jan., 1884, at Metuchen, N. J. 

In his centennial history of Tioga 
county William F. Warner says of Mr. 
Pumpelly: 

"Prominent among the citizens of 
the county, not only by reason of his 
wealth and the magnitude of his deal- 
ings in real estate, but by his upright- 
ness of character, his genial mannez-s, 
and many otner excellent qualities, 
this gentleman had no suiierior. . . . 
He was a splendid specimen of the 
gentleman. He had an erect and com- 



150 

manding figure, open and genial fea- 
tures, and a cheerful and winning 
voice. In addition to his agency for 
others, Mr. Pumpelly became the 
owner of large tracts of land in this 
and adjoining counties, and accumu- 
lated a large estate. He used his large 
means in a most generous manner, 
and his unexpected death produced a 
deep gloom throughout the county 
and saddened the hearts of a large 
circle of friends outside." 

George J. Pumpelly, the eldest son 
of James Pumpelly, after his gradu- 
ation from Yale college, was educated 
as a lawyer. He did not practise law 
but devoted his time to the manage- 
ment of his father's property. His 
sons were James K., Charles F., Jo- 
siah Collins, and George B. Pumpelly. 
His only daughter, Mary Pumpelly, 
was married to Wordsworth Thomp- 
son, who attained considerable celeb- 
rity as a painter, his subjects being 
generally revolutionary and colonial 
scenes. 

Josiah C. Pumpelly has lived for 
many years in New York city. He is 
a graduate of Rutgers college and the 
Columbia college law school. He was 
admitted to the bar of Tioga county 
in December, 1863. He has travelled 
extensively abroad and has devoted 
much of his time to discussing and 
writing upon historic, social, eco- 
nomic, and philanthropic subjects. 
He is a member of various societies, 
before the members of which he has 
delivered addresses, some of which 
have been published. 

Dr. Ezekiel Lovejoy was born July 
G, 1803, at Stratford, Conn. He was 
graduated from Union college, in the 
state of New York in 1823. He 
studied medicine in New York city 
under Drs. Mott and Hosack. After 



151 

taking his degree of doctoi' of medi- 
cine he was for a time a surgeon iu 
the navy of the republic of Buenos 
Ayres. He came to Owego in Septem- 
ber, 1829, and opened an office over 
Charles Pumpelly's store on the south 
side of Front street, opposite where 
the Ahwaga house is now. He was 
the first physician in Owego to prac- 
tise Homoeopathy. He lived many 
years in the large white house, which 
was built about 1836 or 1837 and 
which still stands on the south side 
of Front street east of Academy 
street, and the building he occupied 
as his office still remains at the west 
end of the lot. Dr. Lovejoy held but 
one. public office, that of supervisor of 
the town of Owego in 1854. He died 
in Owego August 15, 1871. 

The portrait of James Pumpelly, 
illustrating this article, is from a paint- 
ing made at the studio of Waldo & 
.Jewett in New York city and is owned 
by Mrs. Lydia A. Fordham, of Owego. 
whose first husband, .James P. Love- 
joy, was a grandson of Mr. Pum- 
pelly. 



152 
CHARLES PUMPELLY. 

Charles Pumpelly came to Owego 
in 1803, a short time subsequent to 
the coming of the rest of the family. 
He was then 24 years of age. Feb. 7, 
1803, he and George Stevens, of Ca- 
naan Mills, Mass., purchased the old 
Bates tavern property which included 
the land now occupied by the Ahwaga 
house and the south end of Church 
street, together with the land opposite 
on the bank of the river. The tavern 
stood where the Ahwaga house now 
stands, and in a wing at the east end 
of it was a store. 

Soon after making this purchase 
Mr. Pumpelly returned to Salisbury, 
but came back to Owego about a 
year afterward. He brought back 
from the east a stock of goods, prin- 
cipally hats, and occupied the store in 
the tavern building. He was a shrewd 
trader, a man of great geniality, and 
was very successful in his business. 
The year after opening his store he 
purchased Mr. Stevens's interest in 
the hotel property. Later he built a 
store on the south side of Front 
street, where he dealt in all kinds of 
merchandise, and purchased lumber, 
salt, and plaster, which he shipped 
down the river in arks and i-afts. At 
this time he owned a saw mill three 
and one-half miles north of Owego. 
On the first of December,1829, his son- 
in-law, Ceorge Bacon, became his 
l)artner in the business, and the firm 
of Pumpelly & Bacon continued sev- 
eral years. 

In the summer of 1815 Mr. Pum- 
pelly built a new house on the lots 
now occupied by the residences of 
judge H. A. Mead and Miss Anna M. 
Dean on the north side of Front 



153 

street. This was a large and elegant 
mansion, painted white. It stood at 
the west end of the lot, about twenty 
feet back from the sidewalk, and the 
large yard east of it was covered with 
a small grove of pines and other 
trees. It was the largest and finest 
house that had been built in Owego 
up to that time. The lot extended 
back its full length to Main street. 

In 1829 Mr. Pumpelly's brother, 
Harmon Pumpelly, built the hand- 
some brick residence now owned by 
-James Forsyth in west Front street. 
When Harmon Pumpelly removed to 
Albany in 1841 Charles Pumpelly pur- 
chased the property of him and re- 
moved thereto. The old residence 
was afterward converted into a semi- 
nary for young ladies and was con- 
ducted by various teachers until 186.5, 
when it was torn down. 

Mr. Pumpelly was born at Salis- 
bury, Conn., Dec. 18, 1779. He was 
supervisor of the town of Owego sev- 
eral years and held other town offices. 
In 1811 he was appointed paymaster 
in lieutenant-colonel Oliver Hunting- 
ton's regiment. He was paymaster of 
Col. Elijah Shoemaker's 53d regiment 
at the time of his resignation in 1819. 
In 1821 he was a delegate from 
Broome county (this county being 
then within the limits of Broome 
county) to the convention which 
framed the state constitution that 
year. In 1825 he was member of as- 
sembly. After the death of his 
brother, James Pumpelly, he suc- 
ceeded him as president of the Owego 
academy. He died at Owego Jan. 6, 
1855. Mr. Pumpelly has been de- 
scribed as a man of great energy of 
character, possessed of a pleasant 



,154 

teniperameiit, and highly respected 
for his many excellent qualities. 

The children of Charles and Fran- 
ces (Avery) Pumpelly were as fol- 
lows: 

1. John Charles Punipelly, born 2S 
Oct., 1804. Died at Ov/ego 9 March. 
1830. 

2. Mary Ann Pumpelly, born ol 
Dec. 1806. Married George Bacon 
16 Nov., 1826. Died at Owego 11 
Feb., 1845. 

3. Susan Isabella Pumpelly, born 
24 April, 1807. Married George .1. 
Pum])elly 24 April, 1832. Died at 
Owego 30 .July, 1864. 

4. Frances Eliza Pumpelly, born 
19 March, 1811. Married Joseph S. 
Bosworth 17 Sept., 1833. Died in New 
York city 30 March, 1879. 

5. Catherine Ann Pumpelly, born 
28 Feb., 1813. Married John M. Par- 
ker 18 Sept., 1835. Died at Owego 30 
Dec, 1845. 

6. Harriet Amelia Pumpelly, born 
27 June, 1815. Married Theodore 
Freelinghuysen, of New Jersey, 14 
Oct.. 1857. Died 8 Feb., 187G, in Troy, 
N. Y. 

7. Stella Avery Pumpelly, born 19 
Sept.. 1817. Married John M. Parker 
1 March, 1854. Died at Owego 2S 
Sept., 1894. 

8. Caroline Augusta Pumpelly, 
born 6 Feb., 1820. Died at Owego 24 
Oct., 1901. 

9. James Pumi)elly, born 23 Sept., 
1822. Died at Owego 3 Dec, 1823. 

10. Lydia Abby Pumpelly, born 26 
June, 1827. Married James Forsyth, 
of Troy, N. Y., 25 July, 1860. Died in 
Troy 12 Aug., 1874. 

Joseph S. Bosworth, who married 
Frances Eliza Pumpelly, was born at 
Lisle, Broome county, and practised 
law at Binghamton. He went to New 
York, where he became eminent as a 
lawyer and advocate, and was elected 
a justice of the sui)reme court. 

Thtodore Freelinghuysen, who mar- 
ried Harriet Pumpelly, was a distin- 



155 

guished man of his time. lie was 
born in 1787 at Franklin, N. J., and 
was graduated from Princeton col- 
lege in 1804. In the war of 1812 he 
raised and commanded a company of 
volunteers. In 1817 he became attor- 
ney general of New Jersey, and in 
1829 a United States senator. In 1858 
he was made chancellor of the uni- 
versity of Nevv' York. In 1844 he was 
the Whig candidate for vice-president 
of the United States. In 1850 he re- 
signed from the university and re- 
moved to New Brunswick, N. J., 
where he was president of Rutgers 
college from 1S50 until his death, 
April 12, 1861. 

George Bacon, who married Mary 
Ann Pumpelly, was born at Wood- 
burn, Mass., March 21, 1804. Three 
years subsequent to his marriage, Dec. 
1, 1829, he became a partner of his 
father-in-law. Charles Pumpelly. in 
the general mercantile business in 
the Front street store under the firm 
name of Pumpelly & Bacon. Several 
years afterward he became sole pro- 
prietor of the business, which he con- 
ducted until the store burned in the 
great fire of 1849, when he retired 
from active business. 

In March, 1829, Mr. Bacon bought 
of Elisha Coit the lot containing three 
acres of land on which Gurdon H. 
Pumpelly's residence now stands on 
the south side of Front street, west 
of Academy street and built thereon 
a large and handsome house in which 
he lived several years. He sold the 
property to Lewis C. England in 
April, 1858. John R. Chatfield pur- 
chased it in September, 1862, and 
lived there until 1902, when he sold 
it to Mr. Pumpelly. who tore down the 



156 

house and built his present residence 
on the site. 

During the latter part of his life Mr. 
Bacon lived at the Ahwaga house, 
where he died April 3, 1862, aged 58 
years. His children .were Col. Geo 
Albert Bacon, who was colonel of a 
cavalry regiment during the civil war 
and afterward for many years assist- 
ant doorkeeper of the house of repre- 
sentatives at Washington. He died 
March 6, 1905, at Carlyle, 111., aged 73 
years. His other son, Charles P. 
Bacon, died at Iowa City, Iowa, April 
20, 1884, and his daughter, Fanny S.' 
Bacon, who became the wife of 
Charles T. Ransom, died Jan. 7, 1897, 
in Washington, D. C. 

John M. Parker was born at Gran- 
ville, Washington county, N. Y., where 
his father, John C. Parker, was a dis- 
tinguished lawyer, June 14, 1805. He 
was graduated from Middlebury col- 
lege in Vermont in 1828. He and 
John J. Taylor were fellow students 
• and friends in the law office of John 
P. Cushman at Troy, N. Y. Mr. Tay- 
lor came to Owego in 1834. He in- 
duced Mr. Parker to also come here 
and he came in 1835, and became the 
law partner of William Piatt. He was 
a sound lawyer and attained the front 
rank in his profession. In 1854 he 
was elected to congress and re- 
elected in 1856. He was elected a jus- 
tice of the supreme court in 1859 and 
held the office at the time of his death 
on Dec. 16, 1873. During a part of his 
service as a judge he sat as a member 
of the court of appeals. He and his 
son, Charles E. Parker, enjoy the dis- 
tinction of having been the only two 
men ever elected to the supreme 
court bench from Tioga county. In 



157 

his centennial histoi'y of Tioga county 
William F. Warner, himself a promi- 
nent member of the bar, writes as fol- 
lows in praise of John Parker: 

"He possessed ripe scholarship and 
a high order of intellect His learn- 
ing as a jurist was exact and pro- 
found, and his habits, manners, and 
culture emmently fitted him for the 
honorable and resijonsible positions 
he so long filled. His life was marked 
by invariable uprightness. By quiet 
habits he escaped unpleasant col- 
lisions which most professional men 
encounter. His even temper seemed 
never to be disturbed. Whatever his 
emotions, there was no outward si^i 
of them. He always enjoyed the 
highest respect of the bench and the 
bar. Few equalled him in marshal- 
ling the facts of a case, and the clear 
analysis and application of the law\ 
He was a severe student, and indefat- 
igable in the preparation of his de- 
cisions, and it is not improbable that 
by the severity of his labors of this 
kind he hastened his death, which 
was sudden and untimely." 

Charles E. Parker was elected 
judge of Tioga county in 1S83 and 
served until Jan. 1. 1888, when he re- 
signed, having been elected a justice 
of the supreme court. In 1895 he w^as' 
appointed presiding justice of the ap- 
pellate division, and served until Aug- 
ust, 1906, when he resigned his office, 
having reached the age of seventy 
years, beyond which the law does not 
permit a judge to serve. 

Another son of John M. Parker was 
Col. Francis H. Parker, who was edu- 
cated at the West Point military acad- 
emy and graduated therefrom in 1861. 
He served through the civil war in 
the ordnance department. He was 
chief ordnance officer of the army and 
department of the Tennessee under 
Gens. Grant and Meade until the sur- 



158 

render at Appomattox. In 1865 he 
was appointed commanding officer of 
Charleston, S. C. He was afterward 
successively in charge, either as com- 
manding officer or assistant com- 
manding officer of the arsenals at 
Rock Island, 111., Detroit, Mich. ,For- 
tress Monroe, Va., Watertown, Mass., 
San Antonio, Texas, Watervliet, N. 
Y., and Pittsburgh, Pa. He died at the 
Allegheny arsenal at Pittsburgh Feb. 
12, 1897. 

WILLIAM PUMPELLY. 

Wiliam Pumpelly was born June 
17, 1788, at Salisbury, Conn., and was 
nearly fourteen years old when he 
came with his parents in the spring 
of 1802 to Beers's settlement. 

He came to Owego in 1805 and en- 
tered the land office of his brother, 
James. He spent the summer in the 
woods, surveying Watkins & Flint's 
purchase. He was employed in sur- 
veying until 1812, when he went to 
Ithaca, which had then grown into a 
a small settlement, where he pur- 
chased a general country store that 
had already been established there, 
and went into the mercantile busi- 
ness. In 1814 he sold his stock of 
goods and returned to Owego. 

Two men from Montreal — Sparrow 
and Crocker — had previous to this 
time come to Owego and built a large 
square building, painted white, on the 
west side of Park street where Rob- 
ert Handler's house now stands. This 
land was a part of the Dr. Samuel 
Tinkham estate. They had come to 
Owego direct from Montreal, bring- 
ing their stock of goods with them. 
At that time there was a pond of 
water in front of the store in the 



159 

present village park. This store 
building was afterward the property 
of James Pumpelly and was burned. 

Mr. Pumpelly purchased Sparrow & 
Crocker's stock of goods and con- 
tinued the business until 1816 or 1817. 
Then he removed into a store on the 
bank of the river, below where the 
bridge now is, where he remained 
until he purchased a store on the 
south side of Front street, opposite 
Church street. 

This store was a red wooden build- 
ing and stood on the ground on which 
is now the brick building occupied by 
the Tioga club. Charles Pumpelly's 
store adjoined it on the east. Where 
Defiance hook and ladder company's 
building now stands on the west side 
was then a vacant lot, and George 
Bacon's store stood west of and ad- 
joining this space. There was a base- 
ment under Charles Pumpelly's store, 
to which access was had by doors on 
the east side of the building, which 
was occupied by Wm. Gregory, a mar- 
ble cutter, and by John Arnold as a 
saloon. These buildings were all 
burned in the great fire of Sept. 27, 
1849. 

Mr. Pumpelly conducted the mer- 
cantile business in this store until 
1844, when he retired from business 
with a handsome competence. He 
was for several years president of 
the old bank of Owego, now the First 
National bank of Owego. 

Mr. Pumpelly lived for many years 
in a house which stood on ground 
now occupied by the Exchange hotel 
barn on the north side of Front street 
• and west of Park street. The house 
was afterward occupied by Robert 
Cameron and was burned Oct. 5, 1867, 



160 

in a tire which burned many other 
valuable buildings in that part of the 
village. He afterward built and lived 
until his death in the house which is 
still standing on the north side of 
Front street, the third house west of 
Ross street, now occupied by T. B. 
Oakley. 

Mr. Pumpelly's first wife was Sarah 
Emily Tinkham, daughter of Dr. Sam- 
uel Tinkham. They were married in 
June, 1814. She died at Owego 
March 31, 1822, aged 27 years. They 
had one daughter, Emily Pumpelly, 
who was the second wife of William 
H. Piatt. 

Mr. Pumpelly's second wife was 
Mary H. Welles, daughter of George 
and Prudence (Talcott) Welles, of 
Athens, Pa., where she was born May 
G, 1803. They were married Oct. 20, 
1824. Her brothers, George Henry 
Welles, of Athens, and Dr. Charles F. 
Welles, of Wyalusing, were two of the 
most distinguished men in Bradford 
county in their day. They were sons 
of George Welles, a graduate of Yale 
college, who came from Glastenbury, 
Conn., in 1799 to Tioga Point, where 
he became land agent for Charles 
Carrol, of Carrolton, and where he 
died in 1813. 

Mrs. Pumpelly was a lady of cul- 
ture and refinement, an artist and a 
l)oet of considerable ability, and was 
educated in Philadelphia. She ac- 
companied her youngest son, Raph- 
ael, to Germany, where he pursued 
his studies in the universities, and 
she became an excellent German, 
French, and Italian linguist and 
scholar. In 1852 a volume containing 
three of her poems, "Belshazzars 
Feast," "Herod's Feast," and "Pilate's 



161 

Wife's Dream," was published in New 
York She also contributed poems to 
the "Atlantic Monthly" and the "Gal- 
axy." After the death of Mr. Pum- 
pelly, Nov. 17, 1876, she went abroad 
and died in Paris, France, Dec. 14, 
1S79. Her body was brought to Owe- 
go in February, 1880, and buried in 
Evergreen cemetery. 

The children of William and Mary 
H. (Welles) Pumpelly were as fol- 
lows: 

1. John Hollenback Pumpelly.born 
16 Aug., 1826. Married Mary Ann 
Foote, daughter of Dr. Lyman Foote, 
a surgeon in the U. S. army, 28 Feb., 
1868. She died in 1877. He died at 
Waltham, Mass.. Dec. 6, 1907. 

2. Susan Welles Pumpelly, born 2.5 
May, 1828. Died 9 Nov., 1830. 

3. Marie Antoinette Pumpelly,born 
3 March, 1832. Married Jeremiah 
Loder, of New York city, 28 Jan., 
1852. Mr. Loder's father, Benjamin 
Loder, was president of the New 
York and Erie railroad from 1845 to 
1853. 

4. Josephine Pumpelly, bom 3 
Aug., 1835. Died 20 March, 1838. 

5. Raphael Pumpelly, born 8 
Sept., 1837. Married Eliza F. Shep- 
ard, of Dorchester, Mass., 20 Oct., 
1869. 

Raphael Pumpelly has attained em- 
inence as a geologist. He was educa- 
ted at the Owego academy and in 
Paris, Hanover, and Frieberg-'in-Sax- 
ony. He returned to America in 1860 
and became interested in silver min- 
ing in Arizona and other parts of the 
far west. In 1861 he was employed 
by the Japanese government, to de- 
termine the mineral resources of the 
island of Yesso, and in 1863 was em- 
ployed to survey the coal regions of 
Northern China. In 1866 he became 
professor of mining engineering at 
Harvard university. In 1870 he made 



162 

a survey of the co])])er regions of 
Michigan and the next year became 
State geologist of Missouri. In Aug- 
ust, 1879, he was appointed director 
of the United States geological sur- 
vey of all territory east of the Miss- 
issippi river. In September, 1881, he 
resigned this position, having been en- 
gaged by the Oregon transcontinential 
company to make a full survey of 
the region traversed by the Northern 
Pacifiic railway and navigation com- 
I)any, embracing a territory 1,500 
miles in extent from east to west and 
500 miles from north to south and 
containing more than 500,000 square 
miles. In 1900 he was engaged by the 
Andrew Carnegie company of Pitts- 
burgh, Pa., to locate iron mines in 
the northwest and Canada. In 1904 
lie headed an expedition, backed by 
Andrew Carnegie, to make archaeo- 
logical researches in the buried cities 
of western Afghanistan and the Cri- 
mea. 

Mr. Pumpelly is the author of 
"Geological Researches in China, 
Mongolia and Japan During the 
Years 1862 to 1865," published at 
Washington in 1866, and "Across 
America and Asia," an account of an 
overland journey from Japan through 
Mongolia, Siberia, and Russia, pub- 
lished in New York in 1869. 



163 

HARMON PUMPEI.LY. 

Harmon Pumpelly, the youngest son 
of John Pumpelly, was born at Salis- 
bury, Conn., and was a little less than 
seven years of age when the family 
came to Beers's settlement. He came 
to Owego when he was twenty years of 
age and with his brother. William 
Pumpelly, and was employed by their 
oldest brother, James Pumpelly, in sur- 
veying lands. Later he engaged in 
the mercantile business and lumber- 
ing. Like his brothers he was very 
successful and became a large land 
owner. 

He married Delphine Drake, daugh- 
ter of judge John R. Drake. After his 
marriage he lived with the family of 
judge Drake until 1829, when he pur- 
chased the lot on which James For- 
syth's house stands, on the north side 
of Front street, west of and adjoining 
the lane extending from Front to 
iVIain streets and known for many 
years as Camp alley and later as Par- 
ker's lane. ihis lot extended back 
to Main street. The property had 
been owned by Nathan Camp, who 
had intended to build a residence for 
himself on it but he died in 1819 be- 
fore he could begin the work. After 
his death his son, Frederick M. Camp, 
of Ulysses, Tompkins county, as 
guardian for Nathan H. Camp, sold the 
lot in September, 1829, to Mr. Pum- 
pelly, who built thereon the large 
brick house which still stands there. 
In 1841 he sold the property to his 
brother, Charles Pumpelly, who lived 
there until his death m 185.5. The 
house was afterward owned and occu- 
pied by Charles Pumpelly's daughter, 
Mrs. John M. Parker, until her death 



164 

ill 1894, and it tlien became tlie prop- 
erty, by devise, of her nepliew, James 
Forsyth. 

Harmon Pumpelly was active in 
public affairs. He was a member of 
the first board of village trustees and 
was re-elected four times. He also 
served as an officer in the state 
militia. In 1821 he was appointed 
lieutenant of a company of riflemen 
and in 1822 was promoted to captain 
in the 201st regiment of infantry, 
which was organized May 16 in that 
year. 

In 1841 Mr. Pumpelly removed from 
Owego to Albany. He was already 
possessed of considerable wealth. He 
embarked in large financial opera- 
tions, which invariably proved suc- 
cesful. He became prominently con- 
nected with the Albany savings bank, 
the Albany gaslight company, and the 
Albany insurance company, all of 
which he was president. He lived in 
elegant style in that city for forty 
years. He lived in a large house, 
which he loved to fill with genial and 
cultured people. His entertainments 
were always in the best of taste, and 
his dinners were noted for the good 
wines, costly plate, and fine glass at a 
time when such things were not as 
common as they are to-day. 

The children of Harmon and Del- 
phine (Drake) Pumpelly were Adeline 
Jerusha Pumpelly, who was born in 
Owego and who was married to Col. 
James Kidd, of Albany, a prominent 
man, who was county treasurer, post- 
master, etc., and Mary Delphine Pum- 
pelly, who was also born in Owego 
and who became the wife of Gen. 



165 

John Meredith Read, of Philadelphia, 
Pa., April 7. lS5^i. 

Mrs. Harmon Pumpelly died at 
Owego Feb. 21. 1S39. After her death 
Mr. Pumpelly travelled in Europe un- 
til his removal to Albany in the fol- 
lowing year. His second wife was 
Maria Brinckerhoff, daughter of Peter 
Brinckerhoff, a representative of one 
of the old Dutch families of Albany. 
They wtre married in 1841. She was 
a granddaughter of Rutger Bleecker, 
mayor of Albany from 172G to 172N. 
She died in Albany April 23, 1887, 
aged 82 years. Harmon Pumpelly 
died in Albany Sept. 29, 1882. He left 
an estate valued at $1,000,000. 

Gen. John Meredith Read was a 
grandson of George Read, of Dela- 
ware, one of the signers of the decla- 
ration of independence, and his father 
was chief justice .John Meredith Read 
of Pennsylvania. He was born in 
Philadelphia and was admitted to the 
bar in Albany. He was adjutant-gen- 
eral of the state of New York in 
1860-66. Gen. Grant when president 
offered him a commission as major in 
the regular army and also the post of 
minister to Spain, both of which he 
declined. In 1869 the new post of 
consul-general to France and Algeria 
was created for him. 

Mrs. Read, by reason of her great 
beauty, tact, and intelligence, soon be- 
came one of the most noted beauties 
of the court of emperor Napoleon III. 
at that time the most brilliant court 
in Europe. 

During the Franco-German war 
Gen. Read was consul-general for Ger- 
many as well as consul-general for 
the United States. In November, 



166 

1873, he was appointed United States 
minister to Greece and served until 
September,1879, when he resigned. He 
died at his home in Paris, France, 
December 27, 1896. Mrs. Read also 
died in Paris, May 29, 1902. 

Their daughters were Mrs. Edwards 
Spencer, of England, and Marie Del- 
phine Read, who in November, 1895, 
was married in Paris, France, to the 
Count Max de Foras, son of Count 
Amedie de Foras, of Savoy, France. 
Gen. Read's sons were major Harmon 
Pumpelly Read and Col. John Mere- 
dith Read, who commanded the Al- 
bany rangers during the Spanish- 
American war and who married the 
Countess Alix deForas, a sister of his 
sister's husband, in March, 1901. 

LORENZO REEVES. 

Lorenzo Reeves was born March 
25, 1792, near the southern boundary 
of Vermont, where his father, Ezra 
Reeves,owned a ferry on the Connecti- 
cut river. His grandfather. Rev. Ezra 
Reeves, was for more than fifty years 
pastor of a church at Holland, Mass. 
Rev. Ezra Reeves was a cousin of 
judge Tapping Reeve, who was chief 
justice of Connecticut and who mar- 
ried Sarah, only sister of Aaron Burr, 
vice-principal of Princeton college, 
and a granddaughter of Jonathan Ed- 
wards. 

When he was about twenty-six 
years of age Lorenzo Reeves came on 
horseback from Vermont into the 
wilds of New York. Attracted by the 
beauty of the Susquehanna valley 
and the pleasant manner in which he 
was received by the early residents, 
he decided to settle in Owego. He 
opened a general country store on the 



167 

west side of Lake street, a little north 
of Front street, opposite where the 
Owego national bank now stands. He 
also built an ark yard below his resi- 
dence at the west end of Front street 
and carried on a lumber business. He 
continued the mercantile busines un- 
til his death January 31, 1S.39. 

Mr. Reeves's character as a busi- 
ness man was that of sterling integ- 
rity. He was universally known as 
"deacon" Reeves long before the 
church had conferred upon him that 
title. He was the first merchant in 
Owego to banish intoxicating liquor 
from his store and take his stand as 
a consistent temperance man. He 
would not under any circumstances 
transact business on Sunday nor al- 
low it to be done for him. 

It is related that on one occasion 
when on his way down the river with 
a shipment of lumber, he gave orders 
Saturday night to pull into shore and 
tie up the rafts. His men remon- 
strated — the water was falling rapidly 
and it would be impossible to go any 
further if they should lose a day. Mr. 
Reeves was deaf to every remon- 
strance, and every man left him and 
returned to Owego. 

The next day he attended church, 
spending Sunday as if at his home. 
He arose early Monday morning with 
some anxiety, feeling that, although 
he had done right, he could illy afford 
to wait until the next freshet to re- 
alize on his lumber. Fortunately, 
while at breakfast, a man came on 
board and purchased the entire raft, 
paying a good price for it. 

For a short period after his first 
coming to Owego Mr. Reeves was as- 



168 

sociated with Elisha Buiidy in the 
mercantile business. Their store was 
still on the west side of Lake street, 
one door north of Rollin block. 

Mr. Bundy, who was commonly 
known as "judge" Bundy through his 
having presided at the mock trials 
in that travesty of the courts known 
as the "moral society," came to Owego 
from Vermont in 1815. He removed 
to the town of Catherine, Schuyler 
county, in 1826, and thence four years 
later to Elmira, where he became 
landlord of the old Mansion house 
and where he died in 1838. He also 
kept another hotel known as the 
Bundy house during his residence in 
Elmira. 

While living in Owego Mr. Bundy 
was also in partnership with Joseph 
Berry and kept a meat market on the 
west side of Lake street, about where 
the Chamberlain brick block now 
stands. Bundy & Berry also con- 
ducted one of the several distilleries 
then existing in this vicinity. 

Mr. Berry was an early settler in 
Owego. He came from the east about 
the year 1804. In 1822 he was in com- 
pany with one of the Ely brothers in 
a general mercantile business in 
■'Cauldwell row." The same year he 
filled the office of coroner. He was 
the commissioner who had charge of 
building the first county clerk's office 
in Court street. 

One of Mr. Berry's sons was Joseph 
Berry, who was successively a rail- 
road brakeman, a moulder, a photog- 
rapher, and at the time of his death in 
April, 1897, a member of the firm of 
Sporer, Carlson & Berry, piano manu- 
facturers. His wife was the daughter 
of Capt. Eliakim Goodrich, one of the 



169 

early settlers of the town of Tioga. 
Another son was Frank Berry, who 
was engaged in the liquor business 
in Owego. Joseph Berry in the spring 
of 1826 bought a farm in the town of 
Newark Valley, upon which he moved 
and where he was living at the time 
of his death in 1830. 

Mr. Berry built and lived in the 
house on the north side of Front 
street, east of William street, which 
was later occupied by Dr. .J. H. Ar- 
nold and is now owned by W. N. 
Richards. Mr. Bundy lived in the 
next house west of it, now occupied 
by Mrs. Caroline Rounseville. These 
lots were owned by Mr. Bundy, who 
sold them for $500 to Mr. Reeves in 
August, 1826. 

At the time of his death Mr. Reeves 
owned the ground on the west side 
of Lake street on which Hill & Par- 
ker's brick block now stands. His 
widow, Maria L. Reeves, who had con- 
ducted a millinery business several 
years, afterward became the second 
wife of Col. Benoni B. Curry. Col. 
Curry was a tailor. He came to Owe- 
go from Orange county in 1840. He 
died at Pleasant Valley, N. .T., Jan. 
19, 1875. 

On this lot, a little back from the 
sidewalk, was Mr. Reeves's house, 
which Col. Curry in 1848 enlarged and 
converted into a temperance tavern 
and called it the Croton house. Col. 
Curry was landlord of the hotel when 
it was burned in the great fire of Sep- 
tember, 1849. 

When the debris left from the fire 
had been removed Col. Curry caused 
to be built on the back part of the 
lot, near the Owego academy yard, 
a small one-story house, about 40 by 



170 

'■'>0 leet iu size in which he lived. 
This house was mounted on wheels 
taken from a railroad freight car and 
placed on an iron track which ex- 
tended out into Lake street. Col. 
Curry's idea was that in case his 
unique structure should be endan- 
gered by fire it could be run out of 
danger by pushing or drawing it along 
the track to the street. The building 
stood there, the subject of some curi- 
osity and much comment, until the 
property was sold in 1862 to Martin 
Ashley, who built Ashley hall thereon. 
Dr. James Wilson purchased the prop- 
erty in 1867 and in April, 1868,the hall 
was burned. It was rebuilt the same 
year as a theatre and again burned 
in February, 1904. The brick block 
erected by Chas. E. Parker and F. C. 
Hill in 1904 now occupies the site. 

The children of deacon Lorenzo 
and Maria L. (Clark) Reeves were 
Ezra Warren Reeves, Edward Payson 
Reeves, Tapping Reeves, Jane Lucin- 
da Reeves, and David Wallis Reeves. 

Tapping Reeves was born March 7, 
1-832, at Owego. He went to Califor- 
nia in 1856. He died at Reeves's 
Mills, Cal., July 9, 1885. His mother 
and sister went also to California in 
1867. Mrs. Maria L. Reeves died at 
JJttle River, Cal., April 28, 1870, aged 
70 years. 

Ezra Warren Reeves was born April 
3, 1826, at Owego, where he was for 
many years engaged in the book and 
news business. He married Caroline 
A. Slosson, daughter of Franklin Slos- 
son, Dec. 16, 1851. Mr. Slosson kept 
a book store in Owego several years. 
Mr. Reeves removed to California in 
187.''.. He purchased a ranch in Men- 



171 

dicino county. Cal., and died there 
Sept. ;!(), 1SS2. 

David Wallis Reeves became fa- 
mous as a musician and bandmaster. 
He was born Feb. 14, 1838, at Owego, 
less than a year previous to his 
father's death. He received his musi- 
cal education under Thomas Canham, 
of Binghamton. a celebrated band 
leader of his day. At the age of lit 
he was the leader of a circus band, 
and later was a member of the famous 
Dodworth's band in New York city. 
In February, 1866, he became the 
leader of the American band at Provi- 
dence, R. I., which under his leader- 
ship ranked as one of the greatest 
bands in America, and he was its 
leader at the time of his death on 
March 8, 1900. D. W. Reeves may 
have inherited his musical talent 
from his father, for deacon Lorenzo 
Reeves is said to have been proficient 
as a player of the bass viol, an instru- 
ment much in use in church choirs 
before the introduction of the organ. 

CAPT. SYLVANUS FOX. 

Capt. Sylvanus Fox was born May 
G. 1797, at North Glastenbury, Conn., 
and came to Owego in 1803 with the 
Talcotts, when six years of age. He 
learned the carpenter's trade, which 
he followed all his life. He lived at 
the southeast corner of North avenue 
and Fox street. The house still stands 
there but its appearance has been en- 
tirely changed by the building of a 
store thereto on the North avenue 
side. Capt. Fox died in this house 
Aug. 24, 1871. Fox street was so 
named in his honor in February, 1821. 
It had been i)reviously known as 
Fourth street. 



172 

Capt. Fox was a prominent and use- 
ful citizen. He was an active member 
of the fire department and was chief 
engineer in 1847, 1856, and 1857. He 
made the first hook and ladder equip- 
ment in 1847. Between the years 1832 
and 1862 he was eleven times elected 
a member of the village board of trus- 
tees and he was president of the vil- 
lage in 1840. 

Capt. Fox married Nancy Ann Tay- 
lor, of the town of Tioga, Dec. 23, 
1821. She died Aug. 13, 1875, at the 
home of her son, George Fox, at To- 
wanda, Pa. Their children were as 
follows: 

1. George Edward Fox, born 5 
N6v., 1822, at Owego. Married Sarah 
Ann Leonard 14 Jan., 1843. 

2. Eleazer Taylor Fox, born 8 Aug., 
1825, at Owego. Married Lydia Soi)hie 
Hornet, daughter of Charles Homet, of 
Asylum, Pa., 7 Feb., 1847. He died at 
Towanda, Pa., 13 Dec, 1887. 

3. Charles Sylvanus Fox, born 19 
March, 1831, at Owego. Married his 
cousin, Harriet M. Porter, at Glasten- 
bury. Conn., 19 Se])t., 1853. He died 
9 March, 1876, in Jersey City, N. J. 

4. Frederick Fox, born 13 Dec, 
1837, at Owego. Married Mary Schu- 
nunburger, of Warren, Ohio, 24 Nov.. 
1864. He died in 1865 and his widow 
married S. Allen Richards, of Struth- 
ers, Ohio. 

George E. and Eleazer T. Fox re- 
moved from Owego to Towanda, Pa., 
about the year 1841, where Eleazer 
Fox engaged in the business of buying 
and shipping lumber down the Sus- 
quehanna river in rafts. His brother, 
George assisted him. Later Eleazer 
Fox engaged in the grocery business, 
and became one of the leading spirits 
in Towanda's enterprises. 

Charles S. Fox was the station bag- 
gage master for the Erie railroad com- 
pany at Jersey City many years. 



173 

Frederick Fox was a telegraph oper- 
ator. He was a soldier In the civil 
war, serving as first sergeant in Co. 
H, Third New York volunteers, mus- 
tered in May, 1861. After the war he 
lived at Leavettsburg, Ohio, where he 
was train dispatcher on the Mahoning 
division of the Atlantic & Great 
Western railroad. He died in 1S65. 
RICHARD E. CUSHMAX. 

Richard English Cushman came to 
Owego in 1812 from Pomfret, Conn. 
He was born .June 2, 1782, at Strat- 
ford, Conn., and was a carpenter and 
cabinet maker by trade. He was of 
the seventh generation in descent 
from Robert Cushman, who was born 
between 1580 and 1585 in the north 
of England and removed to Holland 
in 1608 to enjoy religious freedom. 
Robert Cushman came to America in 
1621 in the ship "Fortune," which was 
the next vessel that arrived after 
the "Mayflower," and landed at Ply- 
mouth, Mass., in' November of that 
year. He crossed the Atlantic for t.ie 
purpose of joining those already here 
in a mutual effort to establish and lay 
deep the foundations of civil and re- 
ligious liberty in the new world. 

Robert Cushman's son. Thomas, 
born in England in February, 1608, 
also came to America in the "For- 
tune." His son, Isaac Cushman, was 
bom Nov. 15, 1676, at Plympton,Mass., 
Isaac's son, Nathaniel, was born at 
Plympton, May 28, 1712. His son, 
whose name was also Nathaniel, was 
also born at Plympton Sept. 2, 1738. 
He was the father of Richard English 
Cushman. 

Richard B. Cushman's father, Na- 
thaniel Cushman, had explored this 
valley at an early day, having de- 



174 

scended the Susquehanna river from 
Otsego lake to Wyoming in a batteau 
on a tour of exploration in 1784, the 
next year after the proclamation of 
peace and immediately upon the close 
of our border warfare, carrying back 
to his neighbors and friends an ac- 
count of the fertility of the valley 
as compared with the thinner soil of 
Connecticut. His representations 
caused many in the vicinity where he 
lived to leave home and friends in 
New England to become pioneers 
here. His son, partaking of the spirit 
of adventure and emigration, came 
here in 1812. 

Mr. Cushman's carpenter shop was 
at one time on the north side of Main 
street opposite where St. Paul's rec- 
tory now stands. He lived below the 
bridge in Front street. He afterward 
bought the lot at the southeast corner 
of Main and Paige streets where he 
built and lived in the house still stand- 
ing there. He sold the property in 
1850 to his son-in-law, John Cameron, 
and removed to Speedsville on a farm* 
Later he returned to Owego and in 
March, 1859, purchased the land on 
the south side of Main street, east of 
St. Patrick's church and built thereon 
the house now owned by H. Austin 
Clark, the second house east of the 
church, in which house he lived. He 
sold this property later and built the 
house which is now the second house 
east of Paige street on the south side 
of Main street and died there Aug. 
19, 1863. 

Mr. Cushman was twice married. 
He first married Hannah Reed, of 
Plainfield, Conn., March 19, 1806. She 
was born Jan. 30, 1783. She died at 
Owego Jan. 21, 1846. His second wife. 



175 
iMrs. Martha Hill, was born at Athol, 
iMass., Aug. 5, 17S7. She was married 
to Mr. Cushman at Speedsville, N. 
Y., Aug. 26, 1847. She died in Owego 
•July 30, 1S77. 

The following were the children of 
Richard E. and Hannah (Reed) Cush- 
man: 

1. Rev. Marcus Knight Cushman, 
l)orn at Sangerfield (now Waterville), 
N. Y.. 25 Oct., 1806. He entered the 
ministry of the Protestant Episcopal 
church in 1836. He joined the Pres- 
byterian denomination and was re- 
ceived into the Presbytery of Tioga 
county 24 Sept., 1846. Married Mi- 
nerva Kenada 8 Sept., 1835. Died at 
Waverly, N. Y., 8 March, 1881. 

2. Sarah Maria Cushman, born 19 
May, 1808. Married Houghton But- 
ler' 25 January, 1831. Died 5 Nov., 
1838. 

3. Eliza Cushman, born 8 Decem- 
ber, 1810. Died 14 March, 1812. 

4. Eliza Ann Cushman, born 15 
.Jan., 1816. Died 11 Aug., 1905, at 
Owego. 

5. Mary Jane Cushman, born 9 
Feb., 1818. Married John Cameron 
17 May, 1841. Died 25 Nov., 1897, at 
Owego. 

6. William R. Cushman, born 20 
Aug., 1821. Died in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
21 June, 1887. 

WILLIAM CAMP. 

William, Nathan, Anson, and Her- 
mon Camp came to Owego from New 
Milford, Conn., in 1805. 

Their grandfather was William 
Camp, who lived at New Milford. 
His four sons were Dr. Elisha Camp, 
and Daniel, Enos, and Nathan Camp. 
They were all farmers. Nathan Camp 
was born at New Milford in January, 
1746, and married Esther Bostwick, 
daughter of Arthur and Eunice 
(Warriner) Bostwick Dec. 10, 1772, 
Their children were as follows: 



176 

1. Anna Camp, born 28 May, 1775, 
at New Milford. Married Lemau 
Stone in 1798. Died at Trumansburg, 
N. Y., 1 Aug., 1866. 

2. William Camp, born 1 Sept., 
1777, at New Milford. Married Abi- 
gail Whittlesey 27 June, 1801. They 
came to Owego in 1805. She was born 
at Kingston, Pa., 30 April, 1777. He 
died March 5, 1826. . She married, 
second, judge Stephen Strong 10 July, 
1838, and died at Owego 29 Oct., 1858. 

3. Martha Camp, born 22 Sept., 
1779, at New Milford. Married Isaac 
Stone in 1799. 

4. Nathan Camp, born 11 Feb., 
1782, at New Milford. Married Sus- 
anna P. Avery, daughter or Samuel 
Avery, of Owego. She died at Owego 
4 Aug., 1813. His second wife was 
Fanny Collier, a niece of Thomas Col- 
lier. She died 21 Oct., 1819, and he 
19 May, 1819. 

5. Gen. Anson Camp, born 17 
Oct., 1784, at New Milford. Died at 
Owego 22 March, 1838. He was un- 
married. 

6. Hermon Camp, born 6 Oct., 
1787, at New Milford. Married (1) 
Mary C. Cook 4 April, 1827. She was 
born 7 Oct., 1799, at Geneva. N. Y., 
and died at Trumansburg, in 1840. 
Married (2) Catherine Cook 1 Oct., 
1840. She died at Trumansburg in 
1848. Married (3) Sarah (Piatt) 
Camp, daughter of Jonathan Piatt, 20 
Sept., 1848. She was born 10 May, 
1811, at Nichols, N. Y., and died at 
Trumansburg 23 Jan., 1894. 

Nathan Camp died at New Milford 
Oct. 26, 1792. His widow married 
Jared Sperry in 1796. They had one 
child, Esther Henrietta Sperry, who 
was born Sept. 6, 1798, at New Mil- 
ford, and married Stephen B. Leon- 
ard, of Owego, Feb. 22, 1818. Mrs. 
Sperry died at Owego Sept. 2, 1840, 
aged 85 years and Mrs. Leonard April 
5, 1879. 

When the four Camj) brothers came 
to Owego their mother and half-sister 
accompanied them. When they came 



177 

here they lived at first in a log house 
which stood on the lot at the south- 
east corner of Main and William 
streets, this being the only vacant 
house in Owego at the time. This 
property they afterward purchased. 

In 1S14 William, Anson, and Nathan 
Camp purchased the property on the 
north side of Front street between 
the lot on which the Dugan house 
barn now stands, which was owned 
by William Pumpelly, and Camp's 
lane, now known as Parker's lane. 
William Camp owned the west one- 
third of the lot, Nathan the lot at the 
east end, and Anson Camp the lot be- 
tween the lots of his brothers. These 
lots extended back to Main street. 
William and Anson Camp also owned 
the property on the south side of 
Front street opposite their lots, ex- 
tending to the river. 

William and Nathan Camp upon 
coming to Owego began a general 
mercantile business. Their store was 
on the south side of Front street 
where Camp's furnace now stands 
and was in the northwest corner of 
the lot then owned by Caleb Leach. 
The building was for many years 
known as the"white store." Mr. 
Leach sold the property in July, 1813, 
to William and Nathan Camp. Na.- 
than Camp died May 19, 1819, and 
William Camp continued the business 
the rest of his life. 

William Camp was fatally injured 
by the explosion of the boiler of the 
steamboat "Susquehanna" in the af- 
ternoon of May 5, 1826. The boat 
was coming up the river on her trial 
trip and while ascending the rapids 
at Nescopeck Falls, opposite Berwick, 
Pa., she struck a rock and the 



178 

explosion hapijened. Mr. Camp died 
a few hours after the accident. Wil- 
liam Camp was known as judge 
Camp, having been in 1812 appointed 
an associate judge of Broome (now 
Tioga) county, and he was reappoint- 
ed in 1817. 

William Camp's wife was Abigail 
Whittlesey, one of twin daughters of 
Capt. Asaph Whittlesey, who was 
killed in the massacre of Wyoming. 

Capt. Whittlesey was a son of Eli- 
phalet Whittlesey, of Newington, 
Conn., and was born there May 12, 
1753. He was one of the Connecticut 
settlers in the seventeenth township 
of the state of Pennsylvania, of which 
Wilkes-Barre was the centre and 
principal town. In May, 1777, he 
was commissioned a captain in the 
third company of the 24th Connecti- 
cut regiment of infantry. This com- 
pany was raised at Plymouth for the 
state service in theWyoming valley. 
He was killed in the battle at the 
head of his men July 3, 1778. 

Capt. Whittlesey was scalped by an 
Indian and afterward crawled to his 
home and was found dead on the 
doorstep. He had three daughters, 
Anna, Abigail, and Laura, who be- 
came the wives respectively, of Joel, 
William, and Enos Camp. 

About a week before the massacre 
Mrs. Whittlesey started for Connecti- 
cut with a party of women, with her 
infant child, Laura, in her arms, rid- 
ing on horseback. They were in 
charge of Rev. Mr. Wattles, the cler- 
gyman of the Wyoming valley, who 
carried Mrs. Whittlesey's daughter, 
Anna, then nearly three years of age, 
on horseback. 



179 

Abigail Whittlesey, who was then 
fifteen months old, was left with htr 
father, Capt. Whittlesey. The night 
before the massacre he put her on a 
raft in charge of an old man and his 
wife, with instructions to take her to 
Baltimore, if possible. They floated 
down the river at night and tied up 
the boat during the day until they 
reached Havre de Grace, Md. The 
man and his wife both died afterward 
of small pox. A year later her grand- 
father came from Connecticut, found 
her, and took her to her mother in 
that state. 

William Camp and Abigail Whittle- 
sey were married five years previous 
to their coming to Owego. 

The children of William and Abi- 
gail (Whittlesey) Camp were as fol- 
lows: 

1. Eliza Minerva Camp, born 13 
Oct., 1802, at New Milford. Married 
Joseph Clizbe. They had no children. 
She died Jan. 29, 1871. 

2. Henry William Camp, born 11 
Feb., 1805, at New Milford. Married 
Lucy Ann Warren, of Woodstock, Vt., 
27 Aug., 1837. He died at Owego 11 
Jan., 1874, and she 29 Aug., 1900. 

3. Juliette Maria Camp, born 8 
April, 1807, at Owego. Married 
Joseph Merrick Ely at Owego 7 Aug., 
1834. He died at Athens, Pa., 1 Jan., 
1872, and she 28 Dec, 1888. 

4. Abigail Whittlesey Camp, born 
1.5 Oct., 1808, at Owego. Married 
Charles C. Noble. He died at Owego 
13 June, 1851, and she 13 July, 1890. 

5. Susan Laura Camp, bom 8 
Sept., 1810, at Owego. Married Dr. Eze- 
kiel B. Phelps. She died at Owego 15 
Jan., 1863. 

• 6. Charlotte Caroline Camp, born 
27 June, 1814, at Owego. Died 24 
April, 1819. 

7. George Sidney Camp, born 5 
Feb., 1816, at Owego. Married Kate 
Cecil. They had no children. 



180 

8. Frances Augusta Camp, born 
9 Dec, 1817, at Owego. Married 
Aaron P. Storrs 15 Nov.. 1842. She 
died at Owego 11 Feb., 1891. 

9. Charlotte Caroline Camp, born 
5 Dec, 1820, at Owego. Married 
Jared C. Gregory at Unadilla, N. Y., 
5 March, 1848. 

DR. HENRY CAMP. 

Dr. Henry Camp for many years 
conducted an iron foundry and fur- 
nace in Owego. His first foundry was 
on the southeast corner of Main 
street and Parker's lane on the spot 
where Mrs. J. A. Goodrich's house 
stands. The first steam engine ever put 
up in Tioga county was in the foundry. 
It had a six-inch cylinder, and was 
used to drive the machinery. Previ- 
ous to the introduction of this engine 
the work had been done with a horse 
and tread-wheel. This furnace was 
burned in June, 1836. Dr. Camp af- 
terward built a much larger furnace 
on the south side of Front street 
where the "white store" of his father 
had stood. This furnace he conducted 
until it was burned in the night of 
Oct. 5, 1867, when all the buildings on 
both sides of Front street from the 
bridge west to Parker's lane were 
swept away by the flames. Dr. Camp 
afterward built a much smaller fur- 
nace on the site of the old one, which 
is still conducted by his son, Herman 
H. Camp. Mr. Camp studied medi- 
cine and practised Homoeopathy sev- 
eral years previous to his death. He 
died January 11, 1874. 

DR. EZEKIEL B. PHELPS. 

Dr. Ezekiel B. Phelps was born 
April 12 , 1800, at Hebron, Conn., 
where he studied medicine and was 
graduated from the New Haven medi- 



181 

cal college in March, 1823. He prac 
tised medicine at Manchester, Conn., 
with Dr. Samuel C. Cooley until Sej)- 
tember, 1S24, when he came to Owego 
and lived here until his death on June 
2, 1892. Dr. Phelps's first wife was 
Sarah Hollenback Laiiing, daughter of 
Gen. John Laniug. They were mar- 
ried May 12, 18?,?,. She died Nov. ?,. 
1S42. His second wife was Susan 
Laura Ann Camp. They were married 
Sept. 12, 1852. 

Dr. Phelps lived and had his office 
on the north side of Front street on 
the lot west of and adjoining the First 
national bank on the ground where G. 
O. Steele's grocery store now stands. 
He lived there until he built the house 
now occupied by Wui. A. Smyth at the 
northwest corner of Front and Paige 
streets, where he lived all the rest of 
his life. 

AARON P. STORKS. 

Aaron P. Storrs was born Sept. 18, 
1812, at Mansfield. Conn. He was a 
son of Rev. Samuel Porter Storrs, who 
was born at Mansfield and preached 
many years at Sherburne. N. Y., 
where he died. He came to Owego in 
December, 1827, with his mother's 
brother. Rev. Aaron Putnam, who had 
adopted him. Mr. Putnam came here 
to assume the pastorate of the Pres- 
byterian church, and he was pastor of 
the church until his death, Dec. 28, 
1831. Mr. Putnam's father was also a 
clergyman and preached fifty years in 
the church at Pomfret, Conn. 

In September, 1835, Mr. Storrs. in 
company with Dr. Lucius H. Allen, be- 
gan a general mercantile business in 
the David P. Tinkham store, a wooden 
building known as Rollin block, which 
stood at the northwest corner of Lake 



182 

and Front streets. In May of the next 
year Allen & Storrs removed to the 
south side of Front street, the first 
store east of Wm. A. Ely's brick store. 
This store had been occupied several 
years previous by Gen. Ansel Good- 
rich. At this time P. Halsey Ball, of 
Berkshire, vi^ho had been a clerk in 
Gurdon Hewitt's store, was in the 
mercantile business with Daniel Ely 
in the brick store west of the store oc- 
cupied by Allen & Storrs. In March, 
1838, Allen & Storrs purchased Mr. 
Ely's interest in the store and took 
Mr. Ball into their partnership. A 
year later Mr. Ball retired from the 
firm. He removed to Erie, where he 
died. Dr. Allen afterward sold his in- 
terest in the business to Frank L. 
Jones, who had conducted a branch 
store for them at Sheshequin, Pa. 
Their Owego store was burned in the 
great fire of September, 1849, and 
they did not resume business. 

In the spring of 1852 .lohn R. Chat- 
field came to Owego from Great Bar- 
rington, Mass., with some capital to 
invest in business. He applied to Dr. 
Allen to recommend to him some 
good business man as a partner, and 
Dr. Allen recommended Mr. Storrs. 
In April, 1852, the firm of Storrs & 
Chatfield opened a hardware store in 
the brick store at the northeast cor- 
ner of Front and Lake streets under 
the firm name of Storrs & Chatfield. 
Frank L. Jones was a partner in the 
business until February, 1860. In 
May, 1855, they bought the hardware 
store of R. Woodford & Co. at the 
northwest corner of Lake and Front 
streets and removed across the street 
thereto. In the spring of 1886 A. P. 



1S3 

Storr.s, Jr., and Geo. S. Chatfield be- 
came members of the firm. 

Mr. Storrs died Sept. 9, 1SS8. He 
was one of the organizers of the Owe- 
go gas light company in March, ISoG, 
and was for many years president of 
the company. 

.Joseph M. Ely was born Jan. l.J, 
1802, at West Springfield, Mass. The 
Elys came originally from Wales and 
were among the earliest emigrants in- 
to New England. He was a son of 
Richard Ely, who was a sergeant in 
the revolutionary war. He came to 
Owego in 1830 and was the second 
principal of the Owego academy from 
1830 to 1835. From Owego he went to 
New York city, where he engaged in 
the wholesale grocery business. About 
the year 1857 he came to Waverly, 
where he was station agent for the 
New York & Erie railroad. In 1859 
he went to Athens, Pa., where he es- 
tablished a select school. He died 
there 15 Nov., 1873. 

Judge Charles Curtis Noble was 
born at Unadilla, N. Y., and was a 
graduate of Union college. He came 
to Owego soon after having com- 
pleted his professional education and 
formed a partnership with judge 
Stephen Strong, which continued sev- 
eral years. On the death of his 
father he returned to Unadilla, and 
practised law there. He was first 
judge of Otsego county several years 
and up to 1847, when a new constitu- 
tion was adopted. That year he was 
elected to represent Otsego county in 
the assembly. Judge Noble was one 
of the three persons who organized 
St. Paul's Episcopal church in Owe- 
go. He died at the home of judge 



184 

Strong in Owego June 13, 1851, aged 
41 years. 

George Sidnej' Camp was born in 
Owego February 5, 1816. He was one 
of tlie first pupils at the old Owego 
academy, from which he was gradu- 
ated in 1832. He entered Yale col- 
lege, but at the end of his sophomore 
year he .left there and entered the 
University of the city of New York. 
At the close of his junior year he left 
college and became a law student in 
the office of Stephen Strong. Later 
he went to New York city and com- 
pleted his law studies in the office of 
Gerardus Clark. He was admitted to 
the bar May 18, 1838. He practised 
law three years in New York. He re- 
turned to Owego in December, 1841, 
where he practised law all the rest of 
his life. He was appointed district at- 
torney of Tioga county in 1845. He 
died at Owego Feb. 14, 1888. Mr. 
Camp was one of the ablest lawyers 
of his time in Owego. 

Joseph Clizbe was a New York law- 
yer and a man of property. He came 
here late in life in feeble health and 
died here. He lived in the house 
which is still standing on the south 
side of Main street, the second house 
east of Parker's lane. 

Jared C. Gregory was born at But- 
ternuts, N. Y., Jan. 13, 1813, and 
studied and practised law there until 
in the sixties when he removed to 
Madison, Wis., where he died Feb. 7. 
1892. 

NATHAN AND ANSON CAMP. 

Nathan Camp was a religious man, 
fond of literature, and he founded the 
village library in 1813. He was one 
of the incorporators of the Owego and 
Ithaca turnpike company in April. 



1S5 
1S07, and was one of the board of in- 
spectors of schools m 1815-16. In 
1807 he was appointed cornet in the 
second squadron, fifth division, troop 
of cavalry, and in 1816 he was ap- 
pointed second lieutenant of the 8th 
regiment of cavalry. 

The following were the children of 
Nathan and Susanna (Avery) Camp: 

1. Frederick Mortimer Camp, born 
3 July, 1813, at Owego. Married Sarah 
Piatt, daughter of Jonathan Piatt, of 
Owego. He died at Ithaca 16 March, 
1848, and she at Trumansbnrg 23 Jan., 
1894. 

2. George Avery Camp, born at 
Owego. Died 10 July, 1827. 

The only child of Nathan and Fanny 
(Collier) Camp was Nathan H. Camp. 
He was unmarried. 

When Gen. Anson Camp came to 
Owego he began the pottery business, 
but later went into business as a 
hatter. His store was on the south 
side of Front street, a short distance 
east of the "white store" on Dr. Tink- 
ham's land. He made and sold hats 
there. 

Gen. Anson Camp was active in 
military affairs. In 1809 he was ap- 
pointed a lieutenant in Capt. Ansel 
Goodrich's company in Col. Asa 
Camp's regiment. The next year he 
was promoted to captain, in 1811 to 
second major, in 1812 to brigade 
major and inspector of the 18th bri- 
gade of infantry, with rank from May 
23, 1812. In 1816 he was appointed 
lieutenant colonel of the r)3d regi- 
ment of infantry, and in 1820 he was 
promoted to brigadier-general of the 
41st brigade. 

Gen Camp was also active in pub- 
lic life. He was one of the incorpora- 
tors of the Owego academy. He was 



1S6 

suinrvisor of the town of Owego iiit 
1815, 1816, 1819, 1820, and 1831. He 
was president of the village in 1832 
and 1833, and he represented Tioga 
county in the assembly in 1825. In 
1814 he was appointed one of the 
three trustees of "Owego settlement" 
in place of Capt. Mason Wattles, who 
had removed from the village. He was 
also one of the three commissioners 
who built the old court house at the 
comer of Main and Court streets in 
1823. 

Anson Camp was never married but 
lived all his life at the home of his 
brother, William Camp. He died 
March 22, 1838. 

HERMON CAMP. 

Hermon Camp was not long a resi- 
dent of Owego. Two of his brothers, 
William and Nathan Camp, has estab- 
ished a branch store at Trumansburg, 
Tompkins county, in 1805. In Decem- 
ber of that year when Hermon Camp 
was eighteen years old he was sent 
there by his brothers to manage the 
store, and he lived there all the rest 
of his life. He was for many years a 
prominent man of Tompkins county. 
In military life he became lieutenant- 
colonel of a regiment of cavalry. In 
1809 he was appointed adjutant in 
lieutenant-colonel Hugh Graham's regi- 
ment,and in 1810 captain of acompany 
of cavalry in the first squadron, 9th 
regiment. In 1812 he was captainofthe 
only volunteer company of cavalry in 
western New York, which he had uni- 
formed, armed, equipped, and mount- 
ed on fine horses at his own expense. 
Within five weeks after the war was 
declared this company marched to the 
headquarters of Gen. Stephen Van- 



187 

Rensselaer at Lewiston, on the Ni- 
agara frontier. In 1820 he was ap- 
pomted lieutenant-colonel of the 10th 
New Yorlv cavalry, with rank from 
July 8, 181 'J. 

He was sheriff of Seneca county 
from Jan. 28, 1817, to the 17th of the 
following A)>ril. In April, 1817. upon 
the formation by the legislature of 
Tompkins county out of a portion of 
the territory belonging previous to 
that time to the counties of Cayuga 
and Seneca, he was appointed sheriff 
of the new county. In November. 
1319, he was elected member of as- 
sembly for Tompkins covmty. He was 
president of Tompkins county bank at 
Ithaca several years. He was a firm 
temperance man and w^as the first 
merchant in Tompkins county who 
discontinued the sale of liquor. He 
was president of the state temi)erance 
society in 1851-2. 

Mr. Camp was thrice married. His 
first wife was Mary Caroline Cook. 
His second wife was her sister, Cath- 
erine Cook. His third wife was Sarah 
Piatt, daughter of Jonathan Piatt, of 
Owego. She was first married in 1832 
to Frederick M. Camp, a nephew and 
employe of Hermon Camp. In 1848, 
after Frederick M. Camp's death, she 
was married to Hermon Cami), who 
was then 61 years old. She died at 
Trumansburg Jan. 28, 1894, aged 82 
years. 

The children of Hermon and Mary 
Caroline (Cook) Camp were as fol- 
lows: 

1. Caroline Cam]). 

2. Clinton Camp. 

3. Henrietta Camp. 

4. Anna Sarah Camp. 

5. Charles Camp. 



188 

6. Mary Catherine Camp, born IN 
Jan., 1840, at Trumansburg. Married 
Henry W. Swanton 29 Sept., 1864. 
Died at Bath, Maine, 17 Nov., 1873. 

The children of Hermon and Cath- 
erin (Cook) Camp were as follows: 

1. Edward Camp, born 13 June, 
1842. Married Susan J. Winfield 28 
Jan., 1862. 

2. Hermon Camp. 

Hermon and Sarah (Piatt) Camp 
had one daughter, Alice Hermoine 
Camp, who was born 23 March, 1851. 
at Trumansburg. She married Frank 
Hackley Griswold, of Auburn, 13 Oct., 
1870. Hermon Camp died at Trumans- 
burg June 8, 1878. 

STEPHEN STRONG. 

Stephen Strong was born Oct. 11, 
1791, at Lebanon, Conn. He was a 
descendant of John Strong, who came 
from England and settled in Massa- 
chusetts. 

John Strong, Jr., lived at Northam])- 
ton, Mass. His son, Jedediah Strong, 
was born in 1637 and died in 1733. 
Jedediah Strong, Jr., was born in 1667 
and was killed by Indians. 

His son, Stephen Strong, was born 
in 1690 and died in 1785. 

Stephen Strong's son, Daniel 
Strong, of New Lebanon, Conn., was 
born in 1719 and died in 1806. 

His son Adonijah Strong was born 
in 1760 and died in 1815. He was a 
soldier in the revolution from 1780 to 
1783 and was at the taking of York- 
town. He married Hepzibah Bliss. 

Judge Stephen Strong was a son of 
Adoni.iah Strong. His parents remov- 
ed to Jefferson county, N. Y., when he 
was a child. He received his princi- 
pal education at Oneida academy, 
Clinton, N. Y., now Hamilton college. 
He came about 1814 to Owego, where 



189 
he at first taught school. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1822. He was dis- 
trict attorney of Tioga county from 
July, 1836, to July, 1838, and from 
1844 to 1S47. He was appointed first 
judge of Tioga county April IS, 1838, 
and held that office until Feb. 2, 1843, 
He was elected county judge in No- 
vember, 1855, and served four years. 
He was the representative of the 22d 
district in the congress of 1845-7. 
Judge Strong was one of the incorpo- 
rators of the old bank of Owego in 
183G. His law office in 1828 was on 
the banlv of the river, a little below 
Paige street. In May, 1838, his step- 
son, George Sidney Camp, was ad- 
mitted to the bar and in the following 
October they became law partners. 
Soon afterward Mr. Camp removed to 
New York city, and in January, 1840, 
judge Alanson Munger became judge 
Strong's law partner. Mr. Camp re- 
turned to Owego in December, 1841. 
and resumed his partnershij) with 
judge Strong, which partnersliip con- 
tinued until judge Strong's election 
to the office of county judge in 1856. 

The law office of judge Strong and 
Mr. Camp was on the south side of 
Front street on the lot now occupied 
by the Standard butter company's 
creamery. It was afterward removed 
to the north side of the street. Mr. 
Camp later built a large addition to it 
as a residence and lived there until 
it was burned in October, 1867. He 
immediately rebuilt an office and resi- 
dence on the same site and lived there 
until his death. It then became the 
l)roperty of A. P. Storrs, Jr., who made 
changes and im])rovements and now 
lives there. 

In July, 18(;i. judge Strong removed 



190 

back to Jefferson county and settled 
at Watertown. There on June 19, 
1861, he married Roxanna Terry 
Woodruff, widow of N. M. Woodruff, a 
hardware merchant, and daughter of 
Eli Bush, of Perry, N. Y. Mrs. Wood- 
ruff was the mother of tlae wife of 
governor Roswell P. Flower. 

Judge Strong died at Watertown 
Apri 15, 1866. In the centennial his- 
tory of Tioga county Wm. F. Warner 
writes at considerable length of judge 
Strong whom he considered "one of 
the most remarkable men of the 
period." Mr. Warner says: 

"For upwards of fifty years judge 
Strong was among the foremost men 
of his profession, and for many years 
was the leading jury advocate of this 
county, and of the counties of Sus- 
quehanna, Bradford, and Luzerne in 
Pennsylvania: his business extended 
largely into the latter three counties. 
In the prime of life he found few 
equals, esi)ecially in the trial of crim- 
inal cases, on which account his ser- 
vices were sought in almost every im- 
l)ortant case for many years. To a 
tall and commanding person he added 
elegance and grace of manner, and a 
pleasing address. His features were 
strongly marked and bore a firm and 
decisive expression, while his eyes 
were full and dark, with dark brows. 
Amid a crowd of a thousand persons 
he would have been selected as a 

I)rominent figure His social 

qualities were of the highest or 

der As a judge he possessed a 

rare firmness that enabled him to re- 
main unbiased by public clamor 

The general judgment of his character 
was that in ability he had few equals, 
and that, with an over-generous na- 
ture, he possessed untarnished in- 
tegrity." 

In the "Strong Genealogy." the au- 
thor, Benj. W. Dwight, writes as fol- 
lows of judge Strong: 



191 

■'He was an eminent advocate, 
famous not only for his technical 
knowledge but for his great tact and 
ingenuity and wonderful resources of 
his own in handling of cases, and for 
his inspiring and magnetic powers of 
eloquent speech, which was always 
more powerful than polished. He was 
stinctively polite, and free with both 
hand and heart everywhere, and re- 
markably frank and reserved on all 
occasions and made alike warm 
friends and bitter enemies. He had 
an inexaustible fund of good spirits at 
all times. He was a great reader, 
rather than a close student. He was 
very tall, about six feet in stature, of 
dark complexion, high and prominent 
cheek bones, a large mouth, and 
marked but interesting features." 

Aaron P. Storrs, Jr., of Owego, owns 
a fine portrait of judge Strong. It was 
painted by .Tames Bogle, a member of 
the National Academy and a noted 
portrait painter of his day. Mr. 
Bogle painted portraits of Calhoun, 
Clay, Webster, Gen. .John A. Dix, and 
other prominent Americans. 

JOHN R. DRAKE. 

John R. Drake, who came to Owego 
in 1809 and who was for many years 
one of the most enterprising business 
men and public spirited citizens of the 
village, was a descendant of Robert 
Drake, who was born in Devonshire, 
England, about 1599, and who was a 
nephew of Sir Francis Drake. 

Robert Drake's son, Abraham Drake, 
came to America in the "Mayflower" 
and settled at Hampton, Conn. Abra- 
liam's son, Robert Drake, was bom in 
1664 and died in 1743 at Hampton. 
Robert's son, also named Robert, was 
the father of Rev. Reuben Drake, who 
was born April 23, 1745, and who was 
a Baptist clergyman at Pleasant Val- 
ley (now called Plattekill), near New- 



19-^ 
burgh. X. Y. Rev. Reuben Drake was 
very wealth.v and owned a mile square 
of land, on which he built a stone 
church, in which he preached free of 
charge to his congregation. The 
church was afterward torn down and 
the material was used In building a 
school house. Rev. Reuben Drake had 
several sons, the third of whom was 
John Roland Drake. 

John R. Drake was born Nov. 28, 
1782. at Pleasant Valley. In early life 
he was a clerk in the store of judge 
Stanley at Catskill. While thus em- 
jjloyed he was sent to Painted Post, 
X. Y., to do some collecting. When 
he reached Owego he stopped at the 
old tavern, which stood at the north- 
west corner of Front and Church 
streets. When he started on his way 
from Owego some one purposely mis- 
directed him, so that instead of cross- 
ing the Owego creek and going west- 
ward, he went north toward Ithaca. 
He soon met some one who informed 
him of his mistake. It was at this 
time he first saw the land on the flats, 
which he afterward induced his 
brother, Reuben Drake, to buy. After 
Reuben had made the purchase his 
wife would not come out here into the 
wilderness to live, and John R. Drake 
took the property off his hands. This 
l)roperty judge Drake purchased about 
the year 1S14. It extended from the 
west line of Evergreen cemetery to 
the Owego creek. The north bound- 
ary was Drake's lane, now Talcott 
street, and the south boundary was 
the north line of Elizur Talcotfs farm. 

When judge Drake came here with 
his family in October,1809,he lived be- 
low and adjoining where the river 



193 

bridge now is in Front street in a 
building, which he rented of Dr. 
Samuel Tinkham as a store and resi- 
dence. Here he lived until he bought 
the farm in the north part of the vil- 
lage. On this farm, on the west side 
of North avenue, midway between 
where Talcott and Adaline streets 
now are, was a farm house. This 
house he enlarged, and he lived there- 
in. Later he again enlarged the house 
and converted it into a tavern for 
Seth Mosher. After the construction 
of the New York and Erie railroad to 
Owego he still further enlarged it. It 
was then kei)t a few years by judge 
Drake's son-in-law, A. B. Gere, as a 
hotel and was known as the Mansion 
house. 

.ludge Drake in February, 1829 pur- 
chased the house on the south side of 
Front street, west of Park street, now 
owned by Mrs. Emily Gere. This 
house had been built for Albert Bacon. 
Judge Drake died in this house March 
21. 1857. 

When judge Drake came to Owego 
the only merchants in business here 
were the Camp brothers. Gen. John 
Laning, major Horatio Ross, Gen. 
Oliver Huntington, and Charles Pum- 
l)elly. Judge Drake was in the gen- 
eral mercantile business in the Dr. 
Tinkham store until 1S14. In August 
of that year he purchased for $1,200 
of James Caldwell the lot on the south 
side of Front street directly opposite 
Lake street, on which he built a 
wooden store, two stories high. It oc- 
cupied the ground on which the Cen- 
tral drug store now stands. 

In the rear of this store was a large 
storehouse with a long dock. Here 
he stored and loaded into arks for 



194 

shipment down the river salt, plaster, 
and wheat. This merchandise was 
shipped on the spring and fall freshets 
lo WilkesBarre, Columbia, and other 
l)oints on the way to Baltimore. A 
great amount of lumber, shingles, and 
staves was also shipped in arks and 
rafts. Judge Drake is said to have 
had a larger number of arks and rafts 
on the river every year than any other 
Owego shipper. 

He employed men to manufacture 
shingles and staves of pine and oak 
in the forest on lands five miles from 
Owego on the Montrose turnpike. 
The men camped in cabins in the 
woods at all seasons while doing this 
work. At that time the country was a 
wilderness along the Montrose turn- 
pike from the river bridge to the 
Pennsylvania line, a distance of nine 
miles. During the war of 1812 judge 
Drake had a contract for making 
tent pins for the United States gov- 
ernment. 

In front of his store judge Drake 
laid the first stone sidewalk ever put 
down in this village. The stones 
were quarried in this vicinity. They 
were square, of irregular sizes, and 
were laid flat on the ground. Other 
such sidewalks were afterward laid 
by other property owners. The stones 
were heaved out of place by the frosts 
and the walks were consequently ir- 
regular and had to be occasionally re- 
laid. 

.Judge Drake was also the first Owe- 
go merchant to introduce lamps in 
place of candles to light his store at 
night. He sold everything usually 
sold in the general country stores of 
those days except intoxicating liquor. 
In 1830 he sold that ))ortion of his 



195 

stock, which was of a kind now kei)t 
ill drug stores, to Dr. Jedediah Fay 
and not long afterward closed out the 
rest of his stock of goods and retired 
from the mercantile business. The 
Front street store he sold in .July, 
1845, to Joshua L. Pinney and his son, 
Hammon D. Pmney, who under the 
firm name of J. L. Pmney <k Son con- 
ducted a drug store there many year.-;. 

.Judge Drake became the owner of 
much property in the business part of 
the village. He built Rollin block, 
which occupied the northwest cornei- 
of Front and Lake streets. In the 
third story of this olock was Concert 
hall, where all public entertainments 
and shows were given. In the fire of 
September, 1849, judge Drake owned 
nine stores, all of which were burned 
and on which he had only $2,000 in- 
surance. He built and owned the 
mills on the south side of the river, 
opposite the Owego creek, which were 
afterward known as the Hand mills, 
and which he subsequently sold to 
James Pumpelly, who was his partner 
in the lumber manufacturing business. 

When the New York and Erie rail- 
road was built to Owego judge Drake, 
who was one of the projectors and 
who had used all his influence to have 
it built through this village, gave the 
railroad company nine acres of land, 
comprising the grounds where the 
station and railroad yards now are. 
This land was bounded north by what 
is now the north line of E. H. Miller's 
hay press, the line extending eastward 
along south of Erie street. The west 
line was a little west of McMaster 
street, and included the ground on 
which the old bridge shop stood. The 
south line was South Depot street, 



196 
the I.enox hotel and the north Ime of 
the vacant lot at the southeast corner 
of McMaster street and the railroad. 

In 1847, two years previous to the 
completion of the New York and Erie 
railroad to Owego, judge Drake 
opened a land office. At about this 
time he caused a survey and map of 
this village to be made. This map 
was lithographed in New York and 
was entitled "A Map of Drake's Reser- 
vation in the Village of Owego, N. Y." 
The map shows the line of the old 
Ithaca and Owego railroad as it ex- 
tended down through the village into 
Front street, the proposed line of the 
New York and Erie railroad through 
the then northern part of the village, 
and the situation of all the residences 
and stores. 

Judge Drake's farm on both sides of 
the railroad was laid out into village 
lots on this maj), with streets, several 
of which streets were opened after- 
ward and are now in use. They were 
generally named in honor of members 
of his family. Delphine, Charlotte, 
and Adaline streets were opened and 
still bear those names. Theodore, 
Harriet, Jerushg,, and Arianna streets 
do not appear on the latest maps. 
.Terusha street on the Drake reserva- 
tion map is now known as West 
avenue. 

When judge Drake gave the nine 
acres of land to the N. Y. & E. rail- 
road company there was some kind of 
an agreement whereby he was to have 
had the rent of the dining room at the 
station and that all trains were to 
stop here, but at about this time he 
was stricken with paralysis and the 
person who attended to this business 
for him allowed the arrangement to 



197 
be changed and he did not receive the 
benefit of it. 

It is related of judge Drake that 
some time before the old Owego and 
Ithaca horse railroad was built he 
was present at a public meeting in 
this village to consider the question 
of public improvements. Among other 
things discussed was a proposed sur- 
vey for a canal from Ithaca to Owego. 
At this meeting judge Drake said that 
if it was found that the building of a 
canal would not be a profitable in- 
vestment, perhaps the line might be 
used for a railroad. Thereupon an in- 
credulous citizen contemptuously re- 
marked, "What wont the d— d old 
fool be at next?" Yet the railroad 
was built. And several years later 
when the New York & Erie railroad 
was completed to Owego and the first 
train came to the station judge Drake, 
who was then helpless with paralysis 
and was sitting in his carriage on the 
hill above, looking at the arrival of 
the train, the man who made the dis- 
paraging remark at the public meet- 
ing stood by his side. 

Judge Drake was prominent in pub- 
lic as well as in business affairs. He 
was supervisor of the town of Owego 
in 181.",. He was appointed first judge 
of Broome county April 8, 1815, and 
served until 1823. He was reappointed 
first judge of Tioga county March 27. 

1833, and served until April 18, 1838. 
He was a member of congress from 
1817 to 1819; member of assembly, in 

1834, and president of Owego village, 
from 1841 to 184.^), inclusive. In 1823 
he was one of the three commis- 
sioners appointed to supervise the 
construction of the first Tioga county 
court house built in Owego at the 



198 

southeast corner of Main and Court 
streets. 

Judge Drake married Jerusha 
Roberts, daugliter of Josepli Roberts, 
of Catskill, N. Y. She was born 6 
July, 1780, and died at Owego 27 April. 
1867. They were married 4 Sept., 
1803, at Catskill. The children of 
John R. and Jerusha (Roberts) Drake 
were as follows: 

1. Harriet Gould Drake, born 22 
Aug., 1805, at Newburg. Married 
David P. Tinkham 7 July, 1825. He 
died at Owego 10 Aug., 1836, and she 
12 Sept., 1901. 

2. Adeline Beebe Drake, born 5 
May, 1808, at Newburgh. Married 
Isaac Bradford Gere 12 August, 1834. 
He died 16 Feb., 1860, at Owego and 
she 21 March, 1888. 

3. Delphine Drake, born 11 April, 
1811, at Owego. Married Harmon 
Pumpelly 16 November, 1830. She 
died 27 Feb., 1839. 

4. Theodore Drake, born 16 Jan., 
1814, at Owego and died here 25 Aug., 
1888. He was unmarried. 

5. Charlotte Marsh Drake, born 5 
Nov.. 1816, at Owego. Married Ed- 
ward Raynsford 17 July, 1837. He 
died 27 Nov., 1881, and she 26 Sept., 
1898. 

William F. Warner in his centennial 
history of Tioga county writes as fol- 
lows concerning .iudge Drake. 

"Judge Drake for many years before 
his death was i)aralytic, but in earlier 
years few men surpassed him in vigor 
of mind and body. He was a keen ob- 
server of men and things and a right 
royal talker. Like Mr. Jonathan Piatt 
he found in the ordinary affairs of life 
abundant amusement, and was dis- 
posed to make the most and best of 
everything. Although he may have 
sometimes held his neighbors up in a 
somewhat ludicious view, yet Mr. 
Drake, though gifted with great 
powers of sarcasm, generally aimed to 
be just . . . Judge Drake held a 
prominent place among the leading 



199 

men of the county, and had much in- 
fluence in shaping the public affairs of 
the village in which he resided, and of 
this county as well." 

David P. Tinlvham, a son of Dr. 
Samuel Tinkham, was born Nov. 22. 
1808, at Owego. His father dying 
when he was less than a year old, he 
was reared by his step-father. .James 
Pumpelly. He was graduated from 
Union college. He afterward con- 
ducted a general mercantile business 
in 1827 and later in a wooden store, 
which stood at the northwest corner 
of Front and Lake streets. When 
Rollin block was built on this corner 
the old store was moved to the west 
side of North avenue, nearly opposite 
South Depot street and converted into 
a dwelling house, where it was occu- 
pied many years by Mrs. Edward 
Raynsford. A few years ago it was, 
with additions, converted into a iiotel 
and called the European house, and it 
is now a tenement. David P. Tink- 
ham lived in a house which stood at 
the northeast corner of Main street 
and Central avenue. He was only 33 
years of age at the time of his death, 
in 1836 and his widow continued to 
live there until the property was sold 
to Dr. P. S. Stearns and Mrs. James 
Wilson in November, 1865, and the 
Park hotel built thereon. 

Isaac B. Gere was a son of Luther 
Gere, who came from Connecticut and 
settled in the town of Genoa, Cayuga 
county. Luther Gere was a carpenter 
and assisted in building the first 
bridge at the north end of Cayuga 
lake. This bridge was more than a 
mile in length. He removed to Ithaca 
about 1807, where he kept a tavern. 
He built the old Ithaca hotel, the old 



200 

Columbian Inn, and other buildings at 
Ithaca. He owned 1,400 acres of land 
near Ithaca, and In one year he had 
800 acres of wheat in harvest. He 
was president of the old bank of 
Ithaca, and was twice a judge of the 
court of coiijmon pleas. A. B. Gere 
was his only son. After his marriage 
A. B. Gere came to Owego and lived 
here all the rest of his life. 

Edward Raynsford was born in 1812 
at Montrose, Pa. At the age of seven- 
teen years he came to Owego and en- 
tered judge Latham A. Burrows's 
store as a clerk. He was afterward 
employed in David P. Tinkham's 
store. In company with Edward R. 
Warner he later conducted a general 
mercantile business in a store on the 
south side of Front street, nearly op- 
posite Lake street. This partnership 
was dissolved July 27, 1836, when Mr. 
Raynsford and his father-in-law, judge 
Drake, formed a partnership and con- 
ducted a store just above the bridge 
on the same side of the street, remov- 
ing a few years afterward to the store 
opposite Lake street. When the New 
York and Erie railroad was completed 
to Owego in 1849 he built a large store 
at the southwest corner of North ave- 
nue and the railroad property, with a 
large storehouse in the rear, and con- 
ducted business there several years. 
'1 -.e store was later converted into a 
public house and known as the Cort- 
right house, later as the Birdsall 
house, and is now called the Lenox 
hotel. Mr. Raynsford died at Sayre, 
Pa., Nov. 28, 1881. 



201 
DR. JEDEDIAH FAY. 
Dr. Jedediah Fay came to Owego in 
ISll. He was born at Hardwick, 
Mass., Jan. 30, 1786. He was a de- 
scendant in the fifth generation of 
.John Fay, who was born in England 
in 1C48 and embarked from Grave- 
send in the "Speedwell." He died at 
Marlboro, Mass., Dec. 1.5, 1690. He 
was one of the proprietors of the 
Ockoocangensett plantation, which 
was purchased of the Indians in 1684. 
Dr. Jedediah Fay was a son of Daniel 
Fay who was born at Hardwick, 
Mass., in 17.52 and died at Randolph, 
Vt, in 1810. 

December 7, 1811, soon after his 
coming to Owego, Dr. Fay formed a 
partnership with Dr. Samuel Barclay 
and practised medicine. Dr. Barclay 
was an early resident here. In June, 
1805, he bought of John Hollenback 
the lot at the northwest corner of 
Front and Ross streets and built 
thereon the house which still stands 
there. It was afterward successively 
owned by Major Horatio Ross, judge 
1 nomas Farrington, and Lieut. B. \V. 
I.oring. When Dr. Barclay bought 
the property he gave a mortgage on 
it, and as he did not pay the claim 
the property was sold at mortgage 
foreclosure in October, 1807. Dr. 
Fay's partnership with Dr. Barclay 
was dissolved Aug. 12, 1812. 

Dr. Barclay was clerk of the town 
of Owego from 1811 to 1814, inclusive. 
Little is known of his history. Dr. 
Lucius H. Allen once informed the 
writer that when he (Allen) came to 
Owego in 1832, Dr. Barclay was still 
living here, old and broken down 
through intemperance, and he died 
here not long afterward. 



202 

111 December, 1812, Dr. Fay, in com- 
company with Joseph L. Lynde began 
a general mercantile business under 
the firm name of J. Fay & Co. in a 
frame building which stood on the 
northwest corner of Front and Lake 
streets. This store was afterward 
burned and on its site Dr. Fay built 
another store, which was later occu- 
pied by David P. Tinkham. 

Dr. Fay continued in business with 
Mr. Lynde until 1815, when Lemuel 
Brown became his partner. They con- 
ducted an extensive business and 
opened a branch store at Spencer, 
which was then the county seat of 
Tioga county. Mr. Brown's son, 
Richard Brown, had charge of the 
Spencer store. They failed in busi- 
ness. While in the mercantile busi- 
ness Dr. Fay was elected clerk of the 
town of Owego in 1814 and served 
three years thereafter by re-election. 

Dr. Fay afterward took charge of 
judge John R. Drake's business and 
conducted it for several years in a 
store which stood on the south side 
of Front street, oi)i)osite Lake street. 
In 1830 he purchased judge Drake's 
stock of drugs, medicines, paints, etc., 
and removed to the store adjoining 
judge Drake's on the east, on ground 
now occupied by Goodrich & Co.'s 
store. It was at that time the only 
drug store in Tioga county. 

In 1835, Dr. Fay built a handsome 
three-story brick building on the 
north side of Front street, the fourth 
brick building built in Owego, which 
occupied the ground now covered by 
the Ahwaga hall block. The ujjper 
portion was occupied by him as a resi- 
dence. One of the stores below was 




DR. FAY'S DRUG STORE. 



203 

used by the old bank of Owego and 
into the other Dr. Fay moved his drug 
store in January, 1836. There he con- 
tinued in the drug business until hi.'^ 
death. He died April 23, 184S. 

The cut of Dr. Fay's drug store illus- 
trating this article is from a daguerro- 
type taken soon after the building was 
erected in 1835. The daguerreotype 
was photographed by Mr. Cortwright 
and the cut made from the photo- 
graph. It is, probably, the only pic- 
ture of any of the buildings taken be- 
fore the great fire of 1849 now in e.\- 
istence. 

While with judge Drake, in May, 
1820, Dr. Fay was appointed postmas- 
ter of Owego, and he held the office 
by reappointment twenty-two conse- 
cutive years. Judge Stephen Mack 
was for some time his deputy. At the 
time of Dr. Fay's appointment he 
lived with his family in a little red 
house, one and one-half stories high, 
which stood near the sidewalk on the 
north side of Front street, east of 
Church street. Judge Mack owned 
the lot which then comprised the two 
lots now owned by Mrs. Henry Young 
and Dr. E. E. Bauer. The house stood 
near the west part of the lot, and in a 
part of it judge Mack had his printing 
office. The post office was afterward 
removed to judge Drake's store, and 
when Dr. Fay built his brick block 
where Ahwaga hall now is, the office 
was removed thereto and was kept 
there until he was succeeded by 
Daniel Ely as postmaster in 1841. 

Dr. Fay was for several years in 
the state military service. July 15, 

1815, he was appointed captain of a 
troop in the 8th regiment of cavalry 
by Gov. Tompkins. He subsequently 



204 

resigned his commission and Gov. 
Clinton appointed him surgeon of the 
53d regiment of infantry, 41st brigade. 
19th division, Feb. 14, 1820. He held 
this position until June 15, 1822, when 
he resigned from the service. 

In his centennial history of Tioga 
county William F. Warner thus 
speaks of Dr. Fay: 

"Methodical in his habits, he kept 
for many years a record of atmos- 
pheric changes, which is, probably. 
still preserved by his family. He was 
a man of wide intelligence and of re- 
fined and agreeable manners, and was 
held in high esteem by the people of 
Owego." 

Dr. Fay's wife was Caroline Roberts. 
a sister of Mrs. John R. Drake. They 
were married July 2, 1812. the year 
after Dr. Fay came to Owego. She 
was born May 30, 1794, in Connecticut 
and died at Owego March 1. 1879. 

The children of Dr. Jedediah and 
Caroline (Roberts) Fay were as f ol- 
io w.s: 

1. Mary Ann Augustina Fay, born 
December, 1813. Died June, 1814. 

2. George W. Fay, born 10 Aug.. 
1815. He was unmarried. 

3. Charles Pumpelly Fay, born i:! 
June, 1818. Married Sarah H. John- 
son, of Albany, Sept. 20, 1845. She 
was born 25 Dec, 1823, and died in 
1863. He married second the widow 
Caroline Lawrence, daughter of Louis 
C. CouFtantine. He had ten children 
l)y the first marriage. 

4. Frances Delphine Fay. born 12 
April, 1821. Died at Owego 23 Sept., 
1895. She was unmarried. 

5. Frederick J. Fay, born 12 May. 
1824. 

6. Theodore M. Fay, born January. 

1828, and died March, 1828. 

7. Caroline E. Fay, born 28 May. 

1829. Married Augustus B. Brown, of 
Geneva, N. Y., 21 July, 1858. 

8. Mary J. Fay, born 16 Feb.. 1833. 
She is stiil living. 



205 
After Dr. Fay's death two of his 
sons. George W. Fay, who had been a 
clerk in the store, and Fredericlt J. 
Fay, continued the drug business in 
the brick block. When this block was 
burned in the fire of September, 1849, 
they temporarily occupied part of a 
wooden building on the north side of 
Main street, opposite Lake street. 
They immediately built the brick 
building which still stands on the 
north side of Front street the second 
door east of Lake street, in the third 
story of which they had a public hall, 
known as Fay's hall. This was the 
first brick building erected after the 
fire and in the hall all the shows and 
public entertainments were given un- 
til T. P. Patch built his brick block 
and hall in Lake street. 

The Fays moved their drug store in- 
to their new building in May, 1S.5(I. 
They afterward built the Ahwaga hall 
block on the site of their father's 
drug store, and when it was com- 
pleted in May, 1853. they moved their 
drug store into tne east part of it. 

The firm of G. W. Fay & Co. was 
dissolved March 31, 1855, and Geo. W. 
Fay continued the business alone un- 
til the following December when he 
sold the business to Angell &. Mackey. 
of Cooperstown, who subsequently 
failed in business. Geo. W. Fay was 
engaged until 1899 in the manage- 
ment of Ahwaga hall and the insur- 
ance business. He died May 14, 1902. 

Frederick J. Fay studied law in 
Farrington & Avery's office. After 
the death of his father he engaged in 
the drug business. In 1853 he sold 
his interest in the business to his 
brother, Geo. W. Fay, and removed to 
Columbus, Ohio, where he engaged in 



206 

the real estate business and where he 
died Nov. 19, 1890. 

Charles P. Fay was in early life a 
clerk in his father's store. In 1842 he 
removed to Albany to take the posi- 
tion of deputy clerk in the office of 
Thomas Farrington, of Owego, who 
was then state treasurer. He went in 
1844 to New York city, where he was 
employed as cashier in Peter Loril- 
lard's tobacco works. In 1872 he was 
stricken with paralysis and was un- 
able to do any work thereafter. He 
was retired on a pension of $1,000 a 
year. He died in Brooklyn October 
29, 1882. 

ELIAKIM AND NOAH GOODRICH. 

Eliakim Goodrich and judge Noah 
Goodrich, cousins, came in 1802 from 
Glastenbury, Conn., and settled in 
what has ever since been known as 
Goodrich settlement, in the town of 
Tioga. Some of their sons and grand- 
sous were business men at Owego and 
many of their descendants still live 
here. 

Eliakim and Noah Goodrich were 
descendants of William Goodrich, who 
with his brother, John Goodrich, came 
to this country from near Bury St.- 
Edmunds, county Suffolk, England, 
where they were born, and settled at 
Wethersfield. Conn., about the year 
1643. One of William Goodrich's 
sons, Ephraim Goodrich, was born in 
1663. Ephraim's son, William Good- 
rich, born in 1697 at Rocky Hill, Conn- 
was the grandfather of Eliakim and 
Noah Goodrich. Eliakim Goodrich's 
father was Elisha Goodrich, of Glas- 
tenbury, and Noah's father was 
Elisha's brother, Ephraim, also of 
Glastenbury. Ephraim married Pene- 



207 

lope Tryoii, of Glastenbury. She died 
at Goodrich settlement Nov. 15, 1S2G, 
aged 87 years. 

Eliakim Goodrich was l)orn Nov. 28, 
17G2, at Glastenbury. He married 
Sarah Leland Jan. 13, 1781. She died 
in Goodrich settlement Sept. 11, 1824. 

Noah Goodrich was born Aug. 30, 
1764, also at Glastenbury. He was 
twice married. His first wife was 
Prudence Goodrich, daughter of David 
Goodrich. She was bom April 14. 
1754, and died Jan. 30, 1813. They 
were married Nov. 23, 1786. His sec- 
ond wife was Rutli Goodrich daugh- 
ter of Jeremiah Goodrich. She was 
born Sept. 5, 1771, and married Wil- 
liam Stratton June 11, 1788. Her hus- 
band died and she married Asa Good- 
rich. He died and she was married 
to Noah Goodrich Oct. 31, 1813. She 
died Aug. 22, 1846. 

Eliakim and Noah Goodrich came 
with ox teams and sleds through the 
wilderness, arriving here July 2, 1802, 
and settled on the property they had 
bought of Col. David Pixley. This 
property they purchased March 17, 
1802. It consisted of 451 acres of 
land, and the purchase price was 
$5,000. The land was covered with 
woods, which they cleared, owning all 
their farming tools in partnership. 
As fast as the trees were made into 
lumber, the lumber was taken in rafts 
down the river to market, the rafts- 
men walking back. 

Noah Goodrich lived in the Pixley 
homestead, a small house which was 
for many years known as the Pixley 
tavern and which is the only one of 
the early houses in the settlement 
still standing. It is at the right hand 



208 
side of the road as one goes from 
Owego toward "Gleiimary" and a few- 
rods north of the highway as it turns 
westward toward the Erie railroad. 

Eliakim Goodrich built a large 
frame house with a wide hall in the 
middle, similar to most of the other 
farm houses built in this vicinity at 
that time. It stood on the north side 
of the highway, a short distance east 
of where the railroad now runs. It 
was torn down a few years ago. Dr. 
Samuel Tinkham lived in a house 
which stood between this house and 
the Pixley house. This house was 
also torn down about the year 1863. 

Noah Goodrich was a member of 
the board of supervisors in 1810-12. 
He was also one of the members of 
the first masonic lodge organized in 
Owego, of which he was the master 
in 1811 and 1812. In 1816 he was 
appointed a justice of the peace. He 
died in the Pixley house .July 19, 1834. 

Eliakim Goodrich was also ap- 
pointed a justice of the peace in 1819. 
He died Oct. 11, 1824. The children 
of Eliakim and Sarah (Leland) Good- 
rich were as follows: 

1. Gen. Ansel Goodrich, born 27 
Oct., 1782, at Glastenbury, Conn. Mar- 
ried xMary Strickland 14 Oct., 1804. 
He died 15 .luly, 1819, at Owego, and 
she 18 Aug., 1860, at Athens, Pa. 

2. Ira Goodrich, born 18 April. 
1784, at Glastenbury. Married Fear 
Potter. They lived at Rochester, N. 
Y. He died in 1825. 

3. Cyprian Goodrich, born 21 May, 
1786, at Glastenbury. Married Abigail 
Giles. 

4. Lucy Goodrich, born 10 .lune. 
1778. at Glastenbury. Married .loseph 
Berry, of Owego. She died 7 May, 
1829. 

5. Alanson Goodrich, born 4 Se])t., 
1790. at Glastenbury. Married Mary 



209 

Pixley, daughter of David Pixley. Jr. 
He died G Nov., 1854, and she 23 April, 
1875. 

6. Silas Goodrich, born 15 Jan., 
1793, at Glastenbury. Married Mary 
Ann Goodrich, daughter of Jeremiah 
Goodrich, 11 March, 1828. He died 11 
July, 1863, and she 4 May, 1871. 

7. Sarah Goodrich, born 9 Oct., 
1795, at Glastenbury. 

8. Betsy Goodrich, born 13 Aug., 
1797, at Glastenbury. Married Jona- 
than Piatt, of Owego. He died 16 
Jan., 1857, at Owego, and she 27 Nov., 
1878. 

9. Anna Goodrich, born 27 May, 
1799. Died young. 

10. Jasper Goodrich, born 5 Sept., 
1801, at Glastenbury. Marrier Betsy 
Thorn. 

11. William Warren Goodrich, born 

26 Jan., 1804, at Goodrich settlement. 
Married Mary Fox, of Towanda, Pa., 
25 Oct., 1830. He died at Wysox, Pa.. 

27 May, 1872. 

12. Fanny Goodrich, born 9 June, 
1806, at Goodrich settlement. She was 
unmarried. 

Gen. Ansel Goodrich derived his 
military title from his service in the 
state militia. In 1807 he was commis- 
sioned first lieutenant of a company in 
lieutenant-colonel Asa Camp's regi- 
ment of infantry, and in 1809 he was 
promoted to captain. The next year 
he was second major in Col. Oliver 
Huntington's regiment, and in 1811 
first major. In 1812 he was promoted 
to lieutenant colonel commandant of 
the 53d regiment, succeeding Col. 
Huntington, who was promoted to 
brigadier-general of the 41st brigade 
of infantry. Gen. Huntington was ap- 
pointed sheriff of Broome county in 
1816, and Col. Goodrich succeeded him 
as brigadier-general. In June, 1818, 
he was promoted to major general of 
the 19th division of infantry, 36th and 
41st brigades, and held that rank at 



the time of his death in the following; 
year. 

When a young man Gen. Goodrich 
became a partner of his brother-in- 
law, Jonathan Piatt, in the general 
mercantile business at Owego. Their 
store was on the south side of Front 
street, below Lake street, and he was 
engaged in business there at the time 
of his death in 1819. He built and 
lived in a house now standing in 
Goodrich settlement, where Ephraini 
Goodrich afterward lived. Later he 
lived in a house on the north side of 
Front street west of Park street, 
where his mother, Mrs. Eliakim Good- 
rich, also lived. After his death the 
property was owned by Jonathan Piatt, 
wno tore down the house and erected 
in its place the house now owned and 
occu])ied by Mrs. A. Chase Thompson. 

The children of Noah and Prudence 
Goodrich were as follows: 

1. Erastus Goodrich, born 1.5 June. 

1788, at Glastenbury, Conn. Married 
Hope Talcott. daughter of Elizur Tal- 
cott, of Owego, 27 Feb., 1812. He died 
27 June. 1854. at Buffalo. N. Y., and 
she 13 Feb., 1865, at Owego. 

2. Aner Goodrich, born 30 Sept., 

1789, at Glastenbury. Married Ruth 
Stratton 1 Oct., 1813. He died 15 
July, 1871. 

3. Norman Goodrich, born 30 Dec, 
1792, at Glastenbury. Married Eliza 
True 20 Jan., 1820. He died 9 Feb., 1861, 
and she 10 March, 1872. Norman 
Goodrich was a commissioned officer 
in the state militia. In 1816 he was 
ensign of a company in the 53d regi- 
ment of infantry, and was promoted 
to lieutenant the next year. He re- 
signed from the service in 1822. 

4. Roxa Goodrich, born 16 Sej)t., 
1798, at Glastenbury. Married David 
Nealy 3 Sept., 1824. He died 8 March, 
1871, and she 21 Dec, 1824. 

5. Prudence Goodrich, born 25 Jan., 



211 

1S05, at Goodrich settlement. Died 
March 31, 1805. 

fi. Anna Goodrich, born .'io Apr., 
1807, at Goodrich settlement. Died 
13 Jan., 1808. 

7. Penelope Goodrich, born 3 Jan., 

1812. Died 6 Jan., 1812. 

Erastus Goodrich was a prominent 
member of the family. He was super- 
visor of the town ofTioga in 1828,1841, 
and 1843, and represented Tioga county 
in the assembly in 1848. He was the 
father of George B. and David Good- 
rich, both of whom were Owego mer- 
chants. Three of his sons-in-law, 
Daniel G. Taylor, George Truman, and 
Thomas I. Chatfield. were also mer- 
chants here. He died June 29, 1854, 
at Buffalo, while on his return from a 
visit to his son, Erastus, at DeKalb, 
Illinois. 

David Goodrich the eldest son of 
Erastus Goodrich, was bora Jan. 3, 

1813, in the town of Tioga. At about 
15 years of age he entered the employ 
of John Hollenback, the Owego mer- 
chant. In 1837 he entered L. Truman 
& Brothers' store as a clerk. Four 
years later he and George Truman en- 
gaged in the dry goods business, and 
in July, 1841, he married Mrs. Tru- 
man's sister, Frances A. Truman, 
From 1863 to 1872 he was in the mer- 
cantile business with various partners. 
Later he engaged in farming. He 
died at Owego July 3, 1896. 

George B. Goodrich, another son of 
Erastus Goodrich, was during all his 
business life a dry goods merchant at 
Owego. Mention has already been 
made of him in an account of the Tal- 
cott family. 



212 
STEPHEN B. LEONARD. 

Through the accurate care and in- 
dustry of Mr. Lansing, of Rochester, 
the genealogy of the Leonard family 
from the year 580 A. D., has been 
carefully prepared. It was an old and 
interesting race, and its sons and 
daughters held high office and rank in 
England. Sufficient for this article to 
indicate that Lady Margaret Fienes 
married Sampson Leonard, eleventh 
baron Dacre, in 1605. Their son was 
Sir Henry Leonard, whose younger 
brother, Henry, was the father of 
Thomas Leonard, of Pontipool, Wales, 
and brother of Francis, fourteenth 
baron Dacre. 

About 1623 James and Henry Leon- 
ard, younger sons of Thomas Leonard, 
of Pontipool, settled in Massachusetts, 
first at Lynn, and later at Taunton. 
To them belongs the great honor of 
having established the first iron 
works in America, at Saugus, near 
Lynn. They were the founders, there- 
fore, of the great steel and iron in- 
dustry of this country. 

The following is the exact geneal- 
ogy of the Owego Leonards: 

James Leonard, of Taunton, died in 
1691. 

His second son was captain James 
Leonard, born about 1643, died No- 
vember 1, 1726. 

His son was Stephen Leonard, judgc 
of court of common pleas at Taunton. 

His son was Joshua Leonard, who 
emigrated to New Jersey, living at 
Parsippiney. He died in 1760. 

His son was Silas Leonard, born in 
17.")6at Parsippiney, and died at Owego 
in 1832. He married Johanna Gregory, 
of Bridgeport, Ct. He removed from 




STEPHEN B. LEONARD. 



213 

New Jersey to the city of New York 
early in liis young manhood, and was 
engaged in the leather business in 
what is now designated "the swamp"; 
and which, probably, was known by 
the same name in that day. His resi- 
dence was in Wall street, and occu- 
pied the place where the United 
States custom house has stood for so 
many years. Immediately opposite 
his house was the city hall. The 
sons of Silas and Johanna (Gregory) 
Leonard were as follows: 

1. Seth G. Leonard, Havana. New 
York. 

2. Milton Leonard, of Marlborough, 
died unmarried. 

3. General Harry C. Leonard, of 
Reading, New York. He died at 
Friendsville, Pa., 20 Feb., 1S44, aged 
44 years. 

4. Stephen Banks Leonard, born in 
Wall street. New York city, IT. April, 
1793. 

Silas Leonard removed to Owego 
with his family in 1803. He was blind 
during the last part of his life. He 
died at Owego Sept. 29, 1832, aged 76 
years. His wife died also at Owego 
Sept. 27, 1816, aged 55 years. 

Stephen B. Leonard was ten years 
old when the family removed from 
New York city to Owego. Three 
years later, in 1806, he entered judge 
Stephen Mack's printing office as an 
apprentice to learn the printer's trade. 
Judge Mack was publishing "The 
American Farmer." His office was in 
the second story of his house in Front 
street. When the term of his appren- 
ticeship expired Mr. Leonard pur- 
chased an interest in the office and 
soon afterward went, in 1811, to Al- 
bany, to perfect himself as a job prin- 
ter in the office of Solomon South- 
wick. 



214 

Mr. South wick was a man of con- 
siderable prominence in political life 
in this state for several years. He 
visited Owego in 1834 and wrote a his- 
tory of the village, which he published 
in i)amphlet form, but no copy of this 
pamphlet is known to be in existence 
now. While Mr. Leonard was em- 
ployed in Southwick's printing office 
Thurlow Weed was also a journeyman 
printer there. 

From Albany Mr. Leonard went in 
1S1?> to New York city, where he 
worked in the book printing establish- 
ment of the Messrs. Wood. While 
there, in April, 1814, he picked up a 
piece torn from a newspaper, in which 
mention was made of judge Mack"s 
death. He returned at once to Owego 
and assumed possession of the news- 
paper establishment. Two months 
afterward he changed the name of the 
paper to "The Owego Gazette." Mr. 
Leonard was editor and publisher of 
the paper, some of the time with va- 
rious business partners and the rest 
of the time alone, until 1835, when he 
was elected to congress, and then the 
office was sold to Shurtleff & Bull. 

As editor of the Gazette Mr. Leon- 
ard was naturally brought into politi- 
cal affairs, and he became active and 
prominent, not only in local politics 
but in state politics also. In 1832 and 
1833 he was a member of the village 
board of trustees and was supervisor 
of the town of Owego in 1854 and 
1856. He was elected to congress in 
1835 from the district then composed 
of Chemung, Cortland, Tompkins, and 
Tioga counties. He was appointed 
postmaster of Owego in 1816 and held 
that office four years. He was again 
appointed postmaster in 1844 and 



215 
served four years more. During presi- 
dent Buchannan's administration iie 
was a United States marshal. Mr. 
Leonard was one of the original trus- 
tees of the old Owego academy and 
remained a member of the board 
forty-one years and until the institu- 
tion was merged in the free school 
system in 1SG4. 

While publishing the Gazette Mr. 
Leonard was a member of the stale 
militia. In 1815 he was appointed sec- 
ond lieutenant of a company of the 
Eighth regiment of cavalry. In 1S21 
he was ai)])ointed quartermaster of 
the Forty-first brigade of infantry. 

When Mr. Leonard began the publi- 
cation of the Gazette he at first de- 
livered his papers by carrying them 
on horseback to various points. 
Later, while postmaster, he estab- 
lished post-routes about the country 
and afterward secured contracts for 
carrying the mails, which mails were 
delivered by post-riders, who rode on 
horseback and carried them. It was 
by these post-riders that Mr. Leonard 
delivered his newspaper to his sub- 
scribers. His routes extended to 
Binghamton, Norwich, Penn Yan, 
Bath, and other points. In 1S16 Mr. 
Leonard also established the first 
stage route from Owego to Bath, and 
a few years later he established an- 
other stage route from Owego to 
Montrose, Pa., which he conducted 
until 1823, when he sold it to a stage 
company. 

Mr. Leonard married Esther Hen- 
rietta Sperry, daughter of Jared ana 
Esther (Bostwick) Sperry, who was 
born Sept. 6, 1798, at New Milford, 
Conn. She was a half-sister of Wil- 



216 

liam, Ansou, and Xathan Camp. She 
was a woman of fine education, a 
graduate of Mrs. Pearces celebrated 
school at Litchfield, Conn., and taught 
a select school at Owego. She was 
married to Mr. Leonard Feb. 22, 1816. 

After his marriage Mr. Leonard 
lived several years in a large house 
which had been occupied as a tavern 
by Ira Deforest and which stood at 
the northeast corner of Front ana 
Paige streets. When Arba Campbell 
purchased the property he built a 
brick house which stands there now. 
He moved a part of the old tavern 
building back and used it for the 
kitchen part of his new house. There 
was a large double house on the lot 
between the tavern building and Mrs. 
Betsy Truman's house. This house 
Mr. Campbell moved back on the east 
side of Paige street where it remained 
until 1900, when it was torn down and 
Lyman T. Stanbrough built a double 
house in its place. 

When Paige street was first opened 
as a public street from Front to Main 
street it was called Leonard street in 
honor of Mr. Leonard, and it was so 
called as late as 1837. 

Mr. Leonard purchased the farm of 
seven acres east of this village, known 
as "The Locusts," now owned by 
.James Archibald. There he lived un- 
til 1869. In April, 1866, Lyman D. 
Durphy bought sixty feet of the east 
end of the lot on which Ezra S. 
Sweet's house stood, on the north side 
of Main street, east of Paige street, 
and built a brick house thereon. This 
house he sold to Mr. Leonard in ex- 
change for the farm. Mr. Leonard re- 
moved to the Main street house and 
lived there the rest of his life. He 



217 

(lied May S, 1S76. Mrs. Leonard died 
Aijril 5. 1879. 

In an obituary notice of Mr. Leon- 
ard, published at the time of his death 
In the Gazette, Hiram A. Beebe, the 
editor of the paper, wrote the follow- 
ing just tribute to Mr. Leonard's char- 
acter and worth: 

'We think we may safely say that 
Mr. Leonard was the oldest printer 
and news])aper editor In the state, and 
no person who knew him will dis- 
pute the assertion that a more per- 
fect gentleman never heard. Intelli- 
gent and well informed upon all sub- 
jects of public Interest, polite, and 
agreeable in his manners, with strong 
predellctlons for the right, yet never 
offensive in the utterance of his views, 
he was a model of courtesy and gen- 
tlemanly bearing, and was very justly 
held In the highest estimation by his 
fellow citizens down tothe very time of 
his death. . . Often honored with 
high official positions, he never be- 
trayed a public trust, nor, in all his 
life, forfeited his claim to a most un- 
iiuallfied confidence in his integrity of 
character." 

In the centennial history of Tioga 
county Mr. Warner says of Mr. Leon- 
ard: 

"Mr. Leonard was held in high esti- 
mation by his associates in congress, 
and even his political opponents, after 
the strife and turmoil of the campaign 
were over, bore testimony to his 
worth and integrity. The lives and la- 
bors of such men as Mr. Leonard are 
those elements which make the choic- 
est treasure of our county. Their in- 
fluence remains and is felt long after 
the lives themselves are ended. A 
century hence the name of Mr. Leon- 
ard will be recalled as that of a man 
who helped to educate and elevate 
the peoi)le of his day and give wise di- 
rection to the public affairs of county, 
state, and nation." 

The children of Stephen B. and 



21 S 

Esther Henrietta (Spen-y) Leonard 
were as follows: 

1. William Boardman Leonard, 
born 17 June, 1820, at Owego. Mar- 
ried Louisa D. Bulkley, of Southport, 
Conn., 6 July, 1847. He died 2 July, 
1893, at Owego, and she 11 March, 
1900, in Brooklyn. 

2. Hermon Camp Leonard, born 31 
Jan., 1823, at Owego. 

3. George Stephen Leonard, born 
9 April, 1827, at Owego. Married 
Harriet A. Leach, daughter of Caleb 
Leach, Jr., 15 Ai)ril, 18.56. She died 
at Owego 1 Jan., 1874, and he 20 
March, 1907. 

4. Henrietta Leonard, born 20 May, 
1830, at Owego. Married Oliver Bulk- 
ley 28 June, 1854. 

5. Emily Caroline Leonard, born 
28 Sept., 1832, at Owego. 

6. Washington Irving Leonard, 
born 12 March, 1835, at Owego. Died 
at Owego 17 May, 1874. 

7. Laura Ann Leonard, born 23 
April, 1839, at Owego. 

Wiliam B. Leonard was from the 
age of 16 to 21 years a clerk in Her- 
mon Camp's store at Trumansburg 
and afterward a clerk in the state 
comptroller's office at Albany. Thence 
he went to New York city, where after 
some experience as a salesman he en- 
gaged in the dry goods business, which 
he conducted with various partners 
for many years and until 1869, when 
he established a banking house, which 
he conducted until 1881, when he re- 
tired from active business. He was 
afterward president of the Kings 
county bank in Brooklyn, of which he 
was one of the founders. He was one 
of the founders of the American sur- 
ety company, president and one of the 
founders of the Homoeopathic hos- 
l)ital in Brooklyn, and one of the 
Brooklyn bridge trustees. 



219 

One of Mr. Leonard's sons, Rt. Rev. 
William A. Leonard, Bishop of Ohio, was 
rector of the Church of the Redeemer 
in Brooklyn nine years until 1881, 
when he accei>ted the rectorate of St. 
John's Episcopal church at Washing- 
ton. He has been Bishop of Ohio 
since 1891. 

George S. Leonard lived all his life 
in Owego. He was engaged several 
years in the clothing business and 
later in the insurance business. He 
held various local offices, among 
which were town auditor and excise 
commissioner. 

Hermon C. Leonard went early in 
life to Portland, Oregon, where he be- 
came eminently successful in business 
and where he still lives, one of the 
citv's most iirominent citizens. 



220 
JONATHAN PLATT. 

The first man named Piatt who 
came to America was Richard Piatt, 
who came from Bovingden, a village 
near Hertford, England, and settled in 
1638 at New Haven, Conn., where he 
became the owner of 85 acres of land 
in and around the city. His second 
son, Isaac Piatt, settled at Huntington, 
L. I. Benoni Piatt, a grandson of 
Isaac Piatt, settled at North Castle. 
Westchester county, N. Y., as early as 
1730. He was the father of Capt. Jon- 
athan Piatt, who came to the town of 
Nichols in 1793. 

There were three Jonathan Platts. 
The first was Captain Jonathan Piatt, 
who lived near Bedford, Westchester 
county, on a farm on the east side of 
Byrum's lake, which farm is now 
owned by Richard Harding Davis, the 
author. He was a member from West- 
chester county of the Third provincial 
congress, in 1776, and of the Fourth 
provincial congress the same year,, 
and was one of the distinguished pa- 
triots who constituted the committee 
of safety at White Plains in 1776. 

In 1779 he was a captain in the 
Fourth New York regiment of infantry 
in Gen. James Clinton's brigade, which 
met Sullivan's army at Choconut. 
This regiment was commanded by 
lieutenant-colonel Frederick Weissen- 
fels. It was, probably, the knowledge 
of the country obtained in this march 
down the Susquehanna valley through 
Owego that induced him to settle 
fourteen years later with his family 
at Nichols, then known as Wappa- 
senah. 

The second Jonathan Piatt, who 
was known as major Piatt, was born 



221 

at Bedford. N. Y., April 20, 1764. He 
married Anna Brush. He came witli 
his father to Nichols in 1793. He died 
there in December, 1824, and his body 
was buried in the lot on the old 
Lounsberry farm, near Nichols. 

The third Jonathan Piatt was only 
ten years of age when his father and 
grandfather came to Nichols. He af- 
terward became one of the most prom- 
inent business men in Owego. 

The children of .lonathan and Anna 
(Brush) Piatt (2) were as follows: 

1. Jonathan Piatt (3), born 13 Oct.. 
1783, at Bedford, N. Y. Married Betsy 
Goodrich, daughter of Eliakim Good- 
rich. He died 16 Jan., 1857, at Owego 
and she 22 Nov., 1878. 

2. Mary Piatt, born 20 May. 1785. 

3. Benjamin Piatt, born 5 June, 
1787. 

4. Edward Piatt, born 19 Aug., 1789. 

5. William Piatt, born 29 Oct., 
1791, at Bedford. Died at Owego 12 
Jan., 1855. 

6. Brush Piatt, born 6 Aug., 1795. 

7. Nehemiah Piatt, born 25 July, 
1797. Died in 1851. 

8. Charlotte Piatt, born 25 Jan., 
1800. Married Gurdon Hewitt 17 May, 
1S21. He died 24 Dec, 1871, and she 
16 Jan., 1876. 

9. Benjamin Piatt, born 2 April. 
1803. 

10. Deborah Piatt, born 6 Aug., 
1805. Married David Turner. He 
died 30 April, 1842. She married sec- 
ond Dr. John H. Arnold in 1845. He 
died at Owego 29 July, 1876. She died 
3 Aug., 1885, at the home of her son, 
Edward C. Turner, at Flint, Mich. 

11. Charles Piatt, born 11 May,180S. 

12. Sarah Piatt, born 9 May, 1811. 
at Nichols. Married Frederick M. 
Camp in 1832. Her second husband 
was Hermon Camp, of' Trumansburg. 
N. Y., to whom she was married 20 
Sept., 1848. She died at Trumansburg 
23 Jan., 1894. 

Major Jonathan Piatt (2), with his 
family and his parents, caiitain and 



222 

Mrs. Jonathan Piatt, settled on a farm 
a mile above the present village of 
Nichols, where he built a house which 
he kept as a tavern and in which he 
lived until his death in 1824. He was 
sheriff of Tioga county from February, 
ISIO to February, 1811. He was reap- 
pointed in March, 1813, and served 
until 1815. 

His title of major was derived from 
his service in the New York state mi- 
litia. In 1797 he was commissioned 
lieutenant. In 1802 he was promoted 
to captain in lieutenant-colonel David 
Pixley's regiment. In 1805 he was 
commissioned second majorin lieuten- 
ant colonel Samuel Seymour's regi- 
ment, and in 1807 was promoted to 
first major. 

Major Piatt's son, Jonathan Piatt 
{?,), was ten years of age when the 
family settled at Nichols. William 
Piatt was two years old. A third son, 
Nehemiah Piatt, was a merchant at 
Nichols and lived there all his life. 
He was a prominent and prosperous 
man of his town. He began the mer- 
cantile business there in 1825. He was 
supervisor of Nichols from 1825 to 
1827 and was a state senator from 
1841 to 1844. He died March 29, 1851. 

Jonathan Piatt (3) came to Owego 
in 1805 and entered Gen. John Lan- 
ing's store as a clerk. He was after- 
ward for a short time a clerk in 
judge Gere's store at Ithaca. In 1810 
he began a general mercantile busi- 
ness on his own account in a store in 
the old Laning tavern, known for 
many years as the "Goodman coffee 
house," on the north side of Front 
street, a little east of Court street, 
where he continued business until 
1819. He was for a time thereafter 



in company with Iiis brother-in-law, 
Gen. Ansel Goodrich, and afterward, in 
1823, in company with another brother- 
in-law, Gurdon Hewitt. Tnis partner- 
ship lasted only a year. In 1825 he 
formed another partnership with still 
another brother-in-law, David Turner, 
which existed several years. 

Mr. Turner began business in Owe- 
og about the year ISIS, when he pur- 
chased Charles Talcott's stock of 
goods. Mr. Talcott was at that tim^ 
in business in one of the stores in 
'Caldwell row." 

Piatt & Turner became extensive 
dealers in lumber and grain. They 
built a double brick store, which stood 
on the south side of Front stret, about 
half way between Church and Lake 
streets and opposite where Ah- 
waga hall now is. When completed 
one-half of the building was occupied 
by Gurdon Hewitt and the other half 
by Piatt & Turner. This was the first 
brick building erected in Owego. 

At the time of its construction no 
other brick building had been built 
in this part of the state, and doubts 
were expressed by some people con- 
cerning its safety when it should h-^ 
finished. It was looked upon as a 
doubtful experiment, for it was be- 
lieved that the severity of the climate 
was such that the frosts would heave 
it from its foundation and that there 
would be danger of its tumbling down 
upon its owners" heads. As time 
passed along and the building con- 
tinued to stand solid, all became con- 
vinced of its stability, and other brick 
stores were afterward built, but th-' 
greater part of the stores were or 
wood and they were all swe])t away 
in the great fire of 1849. 



224 

In December, 1825, Piatt & Turner 
bought of Abner Turner for $250 four 
or five acres of land two miles north 
of this village, on which stood a mill 
and a distillery. There they built the 
flouring mills known ever since as the 
"red mills," together with a plaster 
mill. 

The firm of Piatt & Turner was 
dissolved about the year 1835 and 
.James Ely became Mr. Piatt's part- 
ner. In that year Piatt & Ely con- 
ducted an iron foundry in company 
with Ephraim Leach at Leach's mills 
in the town of Tioga. 

Mr. Turner was a son of Abner Tur- 
ner, who came from New Hampshire 
in 1791 and was one of the earliest 
settlers on the Owego creek, north of 
this village, in the town of Tioga. 
David Turner lived on the north side 
of Front street, a little east of Wil- 
liam street, in a white house now 
owned by W. N. Richards. He died 
there April 30, 1842, aged 48 years. 
His widow married Dr. John H. Ar- 
nold, wJio died in 1876, and after his 
death she lived in the same house the 
rest of her life and until a short time 
bi^fore her death. 

.William F. Warner says of Mr. Tur- 
ner. 

"Mr. Turner was a man of great 
energy, but became badly crippled by 
a wound, on account of which he was 
for many years before his death un- 
able to transact business. In the 
years of his retirement from business 
he became very conspicuous by rea- 
son of his white complexion and gray 
hair, and their contrast with the fa- 
mous black horse of immense size on 
which he rode daily. This horse and 
his master semed to be inseparable 
comiianions, and the writer cajinot 
remember David Turner and his 
horse as disconnected in any circum- 



stance — they almost realized the 
mythological Thessalian centaur." 

After the fire of 1849 Mr. Piatt re- 
tired permanently from the mercan- 
tile business. He was one of the most 
public spirited men in Owego. He 
was president of the village in 1834 
and one of the village trustees from 
the organization of the village in 1S27 
for several years. He was also for 
several years president of the old 
bank of Owego. 

Mr. Piatt lived a few years at "Ves- 
per Cliff," on the west side of the 
Owego creek in the town of Tioga, 
near the Main street bridge, which 
property he purchased In November, 
1842, of Horace Frizelle, and which he 
sold, in March, 1854, to Rev. Samuel 
Hanson Cox, who was pastor of the 
Owego Presbyterian church in 185o 
and 1856. He afterward lived at the 
northeast corner of Main and Church 
streets in the house which still stands 
there. This house was sold in Decem- 
ber, 1862, after his death, to Mrs. 
Emily M. Daniels. Some time before 
his death he purchased the house and 
lot in west Front street where Gen. 
Ansel Goodrich had lived. He tore 
down the house in 1855 and built in 
its place the house now owned and 
occupied by Mrs. A. Chase Thompson. 
Mr. Piatt lived there at the time of 
his death in 1857 and his widow died 
there also. 

Mr. Piatt served In the state militia. 
In 1815 he was appointed first lieuten- 
ant of a company of the Fourth regi- 
ment of artillery, in which Dr. Jede- 
diah Fay was captain and Stephen B. 
Leonard second lieutenant. In 1817 
he was appointed quartermaster of the 



226 

:>M regiment of inl'antry. He resigned 
from tlie service in 1822. 

Jonathan Piatt married Betsy Good- 
rich, daughter of Eliakim Goodrich, of 
the town of Tioga, Aug. 13, 1797. He 
died at Owego Jan 16, 1857, and she 
Xov. 22, 1878. The children of Jona- 
than and Betsy (Goodrich) Piatt were 
as follows: 

1. Charlotte Piatt, born 7 Aug., 
1817, at Owego. Married George Un- 
derwood, a lawyer at Auburn, N. Y. 
•He was a graduate of Hamilton col- 
lege, was a member of assembly in 
1850-52, and mayor of Auburn in 1854. 
He died 25 May, 1859, and she 15 July, 
1900. 

2. Mary A. Piatt, born i7 Septem- 
ber, 1819, at Owego. Married Henry 
Morgan, of Aurora, ?, Sept., 1845. He 
died 30 Jan.. 1887, and she 22 Nov., 
1893. 

3. Charles Paltt, born 19 March, 
1822. Married Nancy H. Ely, daugh- 
ter of Col. Oliver Ely, of Binghamton, 
10 May, 1848. He died IS Jmie, 1869. 
She married second Frederick E. 
Piatt, Charles Piatt's cousin. She died 
July 16, 1902. 

4. George Piatt, born 18 April, 1824, 
at Owego. Died 8 Nov., 1855, at 
Owego. 

5. Frances Sarah Piatt, born 24 
April, 1831, at Owego. She was un- 
married and lived with her mother un- 
til her mother's death. She afterward 
lived with her sister, Mrs. Underwood, 
in Auburn, where she died 10 June, 
1883. 

6. Caroline Elizabeth Piatt, born 6 
June, 1833, at Owego. Married Silas 
Condit Hay, Sept., 1858. Mr. Hay w^as 
a son of Rev. Philip C. Hay, pastor of 
the Presbyterian church from 1847 to 
1855. He was for a few years agent 
and manager of the United States ex- 
press company in New York city until 
January, 1867, when he engaged in the 
banking business and became an ac- 
tive member of the Stock Exchange. 
He is now connected with the New 
York insurance department. 



7. Edward Jonathan Piatt, born ;i 
Sept., 1838. Married Emma Antoi- 
nette Ketchnm. He died at Owego 14 
May, 1891. 

In his centennial history of Tioga 
county Wm. F. Warner writes as fol- 
lows concerning Jonathan Piatt. 

"He was for many years one of the 
most thorougli and successful busi- 
ness men of the county. A man of 
great energy, he possessed a bound- 
less humor, which not the vexations, 
troubles, and ills of life, even when 
supplemented by the weight of years, 
could suppress. He was one of the 
foremost men in adopting and carry- 
ing forward the public improvements 
of his day, and possessed a sterling 
integrity of character." 

Charles Piatt, the eldest son of 
Jonathan Piatt, began his business ca- 
reer as teller of the old Bank of Owe- 
go, of which his father was the presi- 
dent. In May, 1846, he and his brother. 
George Piatt, formed a partnership in 
the general mercantile business. 
Their store was on the south side of 
Front street, directly opposite Dr. 
Jedediah Fay's drug store, which stood 
where the village library now is in 
the Ahwaga hall block. The partner- 
ship was dissolved in May, 1849, and 
the business was closed. Charles 
Piatt was afterward cashier of the old 
bank of Tioga, which was organized 
in 1856. This bank was converted in- 
to the National Union bank, of which 
he was president at the time of his 
death in 1869. Mr. Piatt was jtresi- 
dent of the village of Owego in ISGM 
and 1864, and treasurer of Tioga 
county in 1848-1851. 

Henry Morgan was a descendant of 
James Morgan, who was born in 1607 
in Wales. 

James Morgan's son was Capt. John 



22S 

Morgan, born in 1645, whose son was 
William Morgan, born in 1693. 

William Morgan's son was Capt. 
William Morgan, who was born in 
1723 and married Temperance Avery, 
daughter of Christopher Avery, of 
Groton, Conn., who was a brother of 
Samuel Avery, who came to Owego 
with his family in 1803. 

Capt. William Morgan's son. Col. 
Christopher Morgan, was born in 1747. 
Col. Morgan's son, also named Chris- 
topher Morgan, was born in 1777 at 
Groton, Conn., and removed in 1800 to 
Aurora, N. Y., where he died in 1834. 
He was a merchant and at the time of 
his death had acquired one of the lar- 
gest estates in western New York. 
Henry Morgan, who married Mary A. 
Piatt, of Owego, was his son. 

WILLIAM PLATT. 

Wiliam Piatt, the fourth son of Jon- 
athan Piatt, was born at Bedford, N. 
Y., and when his father came to 
Nichols he was only two years old. 
When a young man he removed to 
Owego and studied law in John H. 
Avery's office. He was admitted to 
the bar in 1814 and began practice in 
Owego that year. 

Mr. Piatt married Lesbia Hinch- 
man, daughter of Dr. Joseph Hinch- 
nian, of Elmira, in 1814, the same 
year he began his law practice here. 
For a few years he was Mr. Avery's 
law partner. He was for many years 
agent for the tract of land known as- 
Coxe's Patent. A description of this 
"patent" or "manor" may be found 
in "Gay's Gazetteer of Tioga County," 
published in 1888 at page 24. He was 
clerk of the town of Owego in 1818 
and i/ 1820 and 1824. inclusive. He 



229 

was also a village trustee in 1841. 
These were the only public offices he 
ever consented to fill. 

Mr. Piatt lived in a house on the 
north side of Front street, west of 
Lake street, which house stood on 
ground now occupied by W. L. Hos- 
kins's jewelry store. In 1819 he 
bought the land on the north side of 
Main street, where the new graded 
school building was built in 1907 and 
built thereon a house which was re- 
moved when the property was sold to 
the village for school purposes. He 
lived there at the time of his death. 
Mr. Piatt's law office was at an 
early day in a small building which 
stood at the northeast corner of 
Front and Church streets. When he 
Iniilt his house in Main street he also 
built an office at the southeast corner 
of the lot, which office remained there 
until after his death. 

Mr. Piatt was an elder of the Pres- 
byterian church many years and until 
his death. He was a lawyer of marked 
ability and a man of great worth of 
character. Wm. F. Warner, in his 
centennial history, says of him: 

"Few men have lived of whom it 
could be so justly said that 'his was 
a blameless life— a man without 
guile.' Mr. Piatt was occupied through 
his business career as agent for the 
land known as 'Coxe's Manor' or 
'Coxe's Patent.' and, as in the case of 
purchasers from James Pnmpelly, the 
purchasers of lands in that patent 
had the good fortune of dealing with 
a man of kind and gentle spirit and 
unflinching uprightness." 

Mr. Piatt died Jan. 12, 1855, at 
Owego. His wife died May 2, 1859, 
also at Owego. 

The children of William and Les- 



230 

bia (Hinchnian) Piatt were as fol- 
lows: 

1. William Hinchman Piatt, born 
^.'■] Sept., 1815, at Owego. Married 
Sarah Emily Pumpelly, daughter of 
William Pumpelly, of Owego, 17 Sept., 
1839. She died in New York city 20 
.Jan., 1856. He married second Mary 
Elizabeth Pumpelly, daughter of 
James Pumpelly, of Owego, 24 Feb., 
1S59. He died 23 Jan., 1883, at Me- 
tuchen, N. J., and she also at Me- 
tuchen 24 Jan.. 1S84. 

2. Stella Avery Piatt, born 3 June, 
1818. Married Joseph Kirkland Rugg 
28 Feb.. 1839. He died 24 Jan., 1857, 
at Flint, Mich. She married second 
Frederick Leach, of Owego. She died 
16 Aug., 1879, at Owego, and he 14 
Feb., 1884, at Morrison, 111. 

3. Frederick Edward Piatt, born 2 
Sept.. 1819, at Owego. Married Ade- 
line E. Huntington daughter of Jared 
Huntington, of Owego, 4 Sept., 1821. 
She died 14 Jan.. 1873 He married 
second Nancy (Ely) Piatt, widow of 
his cousin, Charles Piatt. He died 
22 April, 1906. 

4. Edward Piatt, born 26 Oct., 1821. 
Died 18 March, 1823. 

5. Susan Catherine Piatt, born 3 
Jan., 1824. She was married to Isaac 
Benedict Headley 9 Sept., 1847. He 
died on St. Thomas Island in the 
West Indies, 20 Jan., 1854, and she at 
Owego 27 Feb.. 1851. 

6. Anna Piatt, born 26 Oct., 1826. 
Died June 24, 1829. 

7. Emily Elizabeth Piatt, born 28 
A])ril. 1829. Married Charles Phillips 
Skinner, of Massilon. Ohio, 14 Oct. 
1852. He died 10 June, 1882, at Owego. 
Mrs. Skinner is still living in this vil- 
lage. 

8. Humphrey Piatt, born 8 July, 
1831. Died 24 Jan., 1834. 

9. Thomas Collier Piatt, born 15 
July, 1833. 

William H. Piatt was a graduate of 
the Owego academy and from Yale 
college in 1835. From 1836 to 1840 he 
was engaged in the general mercan- 
tile business in Owego. He removed 



231 

to New York city in 1840, where he 
was a commission merchant. From 
1875 until his death he held a clerk- 
ship in the New York post office. 

.Joseph K. Riigg studied law in 
Joseph S. Bosworth's office at Bing- 
hamton. He was a mechanic, skilled 
in the art of carving wood. After hi.s 
admission to the bar, in 18:34, he mar- 
ried the eldest daughter of .John A. 
Collier, of Binghamton. She died a 
few years after their marriage. He 
was appointed surrogate of Broome 
county Feb. 12, 1836, and held that 
office four years. He married Stella 
A. Piatt in 1839. He was later cash- 
ier in a bank at Massilon, Ohio, 
whence he removed to Flint, Mich., 
where he practised law and lived until 
his death. 

Frederick E. Piatt was for many 
years in the mercantile business. He 
opened a general country store at 
Owego in 1836 when only 17 years of 
age in company with his brother, 
William H. Piatt. From 1847 to 1851 
he was in the commission business in 
New York city, and from 1851 to 1854 
he was bookkeeper in the bank at 
Massilon, Ohio, of which his brother- 
in-law, Joseph K. Rugg, was cashier. 
From 1854 to 1865 he was in the cloth- 
ing business in Owego. The rest of 
his life he was engaged in banking, 
and at the time of his death, in 1906. 
he was cashier of the Tioga national 
bank, which position he had held 
forty-one years. 

Isaac B. Headley was a colleg-> 
graduate and was most of his life en- 
gaged in the banking business. He 
came to Owego when 27 years of age, 
and was from 1837 to 1844 principal 
of the Owego academy. He died Jan. 



232 
20, 1854, in the island of St. Thomas, 
where he was living for the benefit of 
his health, aged 44 years. He was a 
brother of Joel T. Headley, the his- 
torian, who was also a teacher at the 
Owego academy, as well as their sis- 
ter, Mrs. Irene Headley. 

Charles P. Skinner was born Aug. 
5, 1827, at Massilon, Ohio. At an 
early age he became interested with 
James P. Gay, of Milan, Ohio, in a 
line of transportation vessels plying 
the great lakes. He came to Owego 
in 1859 and engaged with Frederick 
E. Piatt in the clothing business. 
From 1862 to 1866 he was in partner- 
ship with Thomas I. Chatfield in the 
grocery business. When the extension 
of the Chenango canal was built to 
Owego from Binghamton he built a 
portion of it by contract. Later he 
engaged in railroad construction at 
Portland, Oregon, in Canada, and else- 
where. He was cashier of the Na- 
tional Union bank of Owego and had 
charge of closing its affairs in 1870. 

Thomas Collier Piatt has attained 
wider prominence than any other na- 
tive of Owego. The history of his life 
has been so fully published in the 
local histories that a repetition in de- 
tail here would be superfluous. When 
23 years of age, in 1857, he was elect- 
ed supervisor of the village of Owego. 
Less than two years later he was 
elected clerk of Tioga county. In 
1872 he was elected to congress and 
re-elected in 1874. He was a quaran- 
tine commissioner in New York city 
from 1880 to 18S9. He was chosen 
United States senator in January, 
1881, but resigned the office in the fol- 
lowing May. In 1897 he was again 
chosen United States senator, and 



233 
was re-elected in 1903 for six years. 
Ill 1879 he was appointed agent for 
the United States express company in 
New York city, and was later made 
president and general manager, which 
position he still holds. As leader of 
the Republican party of the state of 
New York for a quarter of a century 
his reputation has become national 
and has extended throughout the land. 

CHARLES AND PRINTICE RANSOM 

Charles and Printice Ransom came 
to Owego in 1830 from Tioga Centre 
and began a general mercantile busi- 
ness. They were grandsons of Capt. 
Samuel Ransom, who was killed at 
the massacre of Wyoming. 

Samuel Ransom was born at Ip- 
swich, England, about 1787. He came 
to South Canaan, Conn., about the 
year 1756, when he was nineteen 
years old and married Esther Law 
rence on May 6 of that year. After 
his marriage he is said to have seen 
service in the French war and was 
in the campaign at Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point in 1758 with Capt. Zebu- 
Ion Butler, of Lyme, Conn. In the 
summer of 1773 he sold his real estate 
in Litchfield county and removed to 
the Wyoming valley. 

In August, 1776, he was elected cap- 
tain of one of two companies ordered 
to be raised in the town of Westmore- 
land. He and his son, George Palmer 
Ransom, with their independent com- 
pany from Wyoming, joined the conti- 
nental army at Morristown, N. J. The 
first time he was under fire after join- 
ing the army was Jan. 20, 1777, at 
Millstone, N. J., and he afterward 
fought in the battles of Brandywine, 



234 

Gerniantown, and in other engage- 
ments. 

In June, 1777, he resigned, in order 
to return to his home and defend it 
against the British and Indians who 
were advancing down the valley 
under Col. John Butler. In the battle 
at Forty Fort when every captain of the 
six companies was killed, Capt. Ran- 
som's dead body was found at the 
front of the line, with a musket shot 
through the thigh, his head severed 
from his shoulders, and his whole 
body scarred with gashes. His name 
heads the list of killed, engraved on 
the tablet of the granite monument 
erected a few years afterward in 
memory of those who fell in the 
battle. 

Capt. Ransom's widow afterward 
married Capt. James Bidlack, Sr., and 
is supposed to have moved back to 
.\orfolk. Conn., and to have died there. 

The oldest sou of Capt. Samuel 
Ransom was also named Samuel Ran- 
som and was later known as major 
Ransom. He was only 14 years old in 
1733, when his father moved into the 
Wyoming valley. Peck's history says 
that he "was in the battle of Wyom- 
ing, had his arm broken by a ball, and 
escaped by swimming the river and 
diving when the savages shot at him 
from the shore." In Wright's "Ply- 
mouth Sketches" it is related that in 
the night of March 10, 1781, when he 
was twenty-two years old, the house 
was surrounded by Indians. He took 
his gun and walked out in the moon- 
light. An Indian fired, breaking one 
of his arms. He coolly and deliber- 
ately rested his gun against the house. 
and with his remaining arm fired and 



brought down his num. The Indians 
fled, leaving their dead comrade. 

About 1787 Samuel Ransom and his 
brother, William, bought land on Pipe 
creek at Tioga Centre. William built 
a house on the west bank of the creek, 
about one hundred rods from its 
mouth, while Samuel settled two 
miles below Pipe creek, on the bend 
of the Susquehanna. He built on his 
land the first tavern and the first 
school house in the town of Tioga. 

Major Samuel Ransom derived his 
military title from his service in the 
New York state militia. In 1789 he 
was appointed ensign in a company of 
light infantry. In 1792 he was pro- 
moted to cajjtain. In 1797 the militia 
of Tioga county was formed into a 
brigade and he was ])romoted to first 
major. He served until 1802, when he 
was succeeded by PrinceAlden. Major 
Ransom was drowned in the Susque- 
hanna river by the upsetting of a 
skiff in the summer of 1807 or 1808. 

William Ransom was also known as 
Major Ransom from his service in the 
state militia. He was appointed an 
ensign in a company of light infantry 
in 1792, and in-omoted to captain in 
1802. In 1808 he was promoted to 
first major in Lieut.-Col. Asa Camp's 
regiment. He became a large land 
owner and shipper of lumber. 

William Ransom was born at Ca- 
naan, Conn., March 26, 1770. In 1792 
he married Rachel Brooks, daughter 
of James Brooks, at Tioga Centre. 
He died Jan. 8, 1822, and she May 29, 
1857. The children of Wiliam and 
Rachel (Brooks) Ransom were as fol- 
lows: 

1. Ira Ransom, born 4 Dec, 1792. 
at Tioga Centre. Married Sarah For- 



236 

man at Nichols 22 Jan., 1814 He died 
at Wysox, Pa., 1 June, 1848. 

2. Sybil Ransom, born 14 Aug., 
1794, at Tioga Centre. Married Henry 
Light at Smithboro 1 Feb., 1816. Died 
15 April, 1877, at Smithboro. 

3. David Ransom, born 14 Oct., 
1796. Died 9 May, 1827, at Philadel- 
phia, Pa. He was unmarried. 

4. Benjamin Ransom, born 26 Sept., 
1799, at Tioga Centre. Married Lucy 
Frost at Tioga Centre 7 July, 1821. 
Died 18 Jan., 1830, at Tioga Centre. 

5. William Ransom, born 9 April, 
ISOl, at Tioga Centre. Married Ange- 
line Martin at Owego 14 Sept., 1831. 
He died at Tioga Centre 7 Feb.. 1883. 
She died four days afterward, 11 Feb.. 
1883. 

6. Rachel Ransom, born 23 Aug.. 
1803, at Tioga Centre. Married David 
Wallis at Tioga Centre 23 Jan., 1823. 
Died 13 Nov., 1889. 

7. Charles Ransom, born 19 Sept., 
1805, at Tioga Centre. Married Hope 
Maria Talcott, daughter of George 
Lord Talcott, at Owego 2 Oct., 1832. 
He died 12 Aug., 1860, at Tioga Cen- 
tre, and she 1 May 1863. 

8. Printice Ransom, born 17 Sept., 
1807, at Tioga Centre. Married Fanny 
Thurston, daughter of David Thurs- 
ton, at Owego 19 Oct., 1830. He died 
15 Oct., 1889, at Iowa City, Iowa, and 
she 18 July, 1902, at Iowa City. 

9. Harriet Ransom, born 15 Aug., 
1809, at Tioga Centre. Married Asa 
Guildersleeve, Jackson at Tioga Cen- 
tre 19 May, 1840. Died 4 June, 1847, 
at Tioga Centre. 

10. Charlotte Ransom,born 13 April. 
1811, at Tioga Centre. Died 26 June, 
1811. 

11. Mary Johnson Ransom, born 24 
Nov.. 1812, at Tioga Centre. Married 
Gilbert Strang at Tioga Centre 29 
Jan., 1833. Died 9 June. 1872, at 
Tioga Centre. 

When Charles and Printice Ransom 
began business in Owego in May, 
1830 they were aged respectively 24 
and 22 years. Having formed a part- 
nership with William A. Ely under 



237 
the firm name of Ely & Ransoms they 
contmued the general mercantile bus- 
iness that had been established by 
James, Daniel, and Wm. A. Ely in a 
store on the south side of Front street 
below Lake street. Charles Ransom 
did not remain long in the firm but 
withdrew in June, 1830, and the name 
of the firm was changed to Ely & Ran- 
som. This firm was dissolved April 1, 
1833, Charles Ransom having pur- 
chased Mr. Ely's interest. C. & P. 
Ransom continued the business in the 
same store. Later they removed to 
the west side of Lake street into a 
wooden store which stood opposite 
where the Owego national bank now 
is. After the fire of 1849, in which 
their store was burned, they built the 
brick store on the south side of Front 
street now occupied by Buckbee, 
Peterson. Wood & Co., and into which 
they moved in January, 1851. On the 
30th of the following September 
Charles Ransom who had lived both 
at Tioga Centre and Owego while in 
business here, retired from the mer- 
cantile business altogether and spent 
the remainder of his life at Tioga 
Centre, where he died nine years 
later. 

Upon the dissolution of the firm of 
C. & P. Ransom, Printice Ransom and 
his brother-in-law. Col. James S. 
Thurston, formed a partnership and 
continued the business under the firm 
name of P. Ransom & Co., until Dec. 
9, 1856. 

In November. 1857, Mr. Ransom re- 
moved to Iowa City, Iowa, where his 
son Charles T. Ransom, was practis- 
ing law. About ten years later he re- 
turned east and engaged in the dry 
goods business in Binghamton, but in 



238 

March, 1S71, he disposed of his stock 
of goods and returned to Iowa City, 
where he lived the rest of his life. 

Mr. Ransom held but one public 
office. He was elected sheriff of Tioga 
county in 1837 and served three years. 
He was one of the organizers of the 
Owego gas companny in 1856. 

The children of Charles and Hope 
M. (Talcott) Ransom were as fol- 
lows: 

1. George E. Ransom, born 1!) 
Sept., 1833, at Owego. Died 12 .Jan., 
1835. 

2. Charles Edmund Ransom, born 

7 Dec, 1835, at Tioga Centre. Mar- 
ried Georgiana Anderson at Port De- 
posit, Md., 21 Oct., 1862. He died 30 
April, 1877, at Tioga Centre. 

3. William Ransom, born 3 July, 
1839 died 18 Nov., 1841. 

The children of Printice and Fanny 
(Thurston) Ransom were as follows: 

1. Charles Talcott Ransom, born 
27 Sept., 1831, at Owego. Married 
Fanny Sarah Bacon, daughter of 
George Bacon, at Owego 23 June, 
1859. He died 5 April, 1888, at Iowa 
City, Iowa, and she 8 Jan., 1897, at 
Washington, D. C. 

2. Chester Printice Ransom, born 
31 Aug., 1833, at Owego. Died 2 Feb., 
1842. 

3. Fanny Clarissa Ransom, born 

8 April 1837, at Owego. Married 
James B. Edmonds 6 Dec, 1859, at 
Iowa City, Iowa. She died 9 Jan., 
1864, at Iowa City, and he Dec. 29, 
1900, at Washington, D. C. 

4. Elizabeth Rachel Ransom, born 
26 Sei)t., 1841, at Owego. Married 
Thomas Fanning Goodrich at Iowa 
City, Iowa, 16 Dec, 1861. He died 8 
Nov., 1904, at Owego. 

5. Mary Neal Ransom, born 30 
Nov., 1845, at Owego. Married Hel- 
muth George Wullweber 30 May, 1877. 
at Iowa City, Iowa. He died 4 May, 
1879, at Dubuque, Iowa. 



239 

ASA H., LYMAN. AND AAROxN 
TRUMAN. 

The first member of the Truman 
family who came to America was 
Joseph Truman, who was born in 
Nottinghamshire, England. The first 
record of him is at New London, 
Conn,, where in 1666 he was a tanner, 
conducting two tanneries. He died 
there in 1697. His eldest son, also 
named Joseph Truman, was also a 
tanner. He had two sons, Shem (born 
in 1760) and David. Capt. Shem Tru- 
man was the father of Asa H., Lyman, 
and Aaron Truman, who settled in the 
town of Owego. 

Capt. Shem Truman was born about 
1760 at Sheffield, Mass. He saw some 
military service both in Massachu- 
setts and New York. He enlisted in 
the continental army Aug. 20, 1777, 
for nine months, while living in 
Massachusetts. He married Abigail 
Spellman of Sheffield. They removed 
to Canaan, Conn., where she died in 
1785. They had three children as fol- 
lows: 

1. Levi Truman. He died young. 

2. Lyman Truman, born in 1783, in 
Berkshire county, Mass. Married Lucy 
Barlow, of Candor, in 1809. He died 
2 Nov., 1822, in Candor. 

3. Aaron Truman, born 27 July, 
1785, at Granville, Mass. Married Ex- 
perience Park, daughter of Capt. 
Thomas Park, in 1805. He died 13 
Jan., 1823, and she 16 May, 1844, at 
Owego. 

The same year in which his wife 
died Capt. Shem Truman came with 
his sons to Jefferson county in New 
York state, where he married Sarah 
(Barto) Rose and where he lived sev- 
eral years. He removed afterward 
to Genesee, N. Y., and thence to the 



240 

town of Sparta, Livingston county, 
where his second wife died. His third 
wife was Lucy Remington. She died 
in October, 1831. 

While living in northern New York 
he enlisted in the light infantry, and 
in 1797 was promoted to lieutenant. 
In 1802 he was promoted to captain. 
He resigned his commission in 1804. 

The children of Shem and Lucy 
(Remington) Ti'uman were as fol- 
lows: 

1. Asa H. Truman, born 26 Feb., 
1793, at Sparta. Married Betsy S. 
Dean 1 Jan., 1815. He died 6 Feb., 
1848, at Owego and she 21 June, 1882. 

2. Lucy Truman, born at Sparta. 
Married Henry Williams, of Newark 
Valley. She died 25 Feb., 1829. 

3. Ann Truman, born at Sparta. 
Married Charles Kellogg. He removed 
to Yazoo, 111. 

4. Lovisa Truman, born in 1802. 
Married Ebenezer Porter. 

5. David Truman, born 17 May, 
1799. Married Phebe M. Pryne 18 
Oct., 1832. He died 18 Dec. 1844. 

6. Lydia Truman. Married 

Scott, of Sparta. 

Lyman and Aaron Truman and their 
half-brother, Asa H. Truman, all set- 
tled at Park settlement, in the town 
of Candor — Aaron in 1804, Lyman in 
1806, and Asa H. in 1810. 

Asa H. Truman, the youngest of the 
three, who was 17 years old when he 
came to Park settlement, taught 
school there for a time. From 1816 to 
1825 he kept a store and tavern at 
Flemingville. The building stood there 
until March, 1885, when it was burned. 
There were two taverns at Fleming- 
ville for several years and this one 
was known as the "lower tavern." In 
1825 he came to Owego and began a 
general mercantile business in a 
wooden store which stood on the 



241 

south side of Front street, nearly op- 
posite I^ake street on tlie ground 
where Henry Ripley's boot and shoe 
store now stands. About the year 
1840 he took into partnership one of 
his sons. Edward D. Truman, and his 
nephew, Stephen S. Truman. The 
firm was known as A. H. Truman & 
Co. The partnership existed until 
\Ir. Truman's death, in 1848. 

Asa H. Truman lived at the time of 
his death in a house which stood on 
the north side of Front street, the 
third house east of Paige street. Af- 
ter his death his widow lived there 
until she died, in 1882. After her 
death the property was purchased by 
Mrs. J. B. Stanbrough. The house was 
torn down and the lot on which it 
stood was added to Mrs. Stanbrough's 
grounds. 

The children of Asa H. and Betsy 
(Dean) Truman were as follows: 

1. .Juliett Truman, born 29 Oct., 
1815. Married John C. Laning 15 July, 
1839. He died 18 May, 1897, at Owego, 
and she 7 April, 1900. 

2. Lucius Truman, born 2 April. 
1818, at Flemingville. Married Mary 
P. Leach, daughter of Caleb Leach, 
Jr., 11 Aug., 1840. She died at Owego 
in July, 1862. He married second 
Mary D. Doumaux, of Charleston, in 
1873. He died 26 May, 1890. at Wells- 
boro, Pa. 

3. Edward D. Truman, born 19 
May, 1820, at Owego. Married Eleanor 
M. Soule 10 Nov., 1843. He died 6 
.Tune, 1862, at Dixon, 111. 

4. Aaron Truman, bom 29 Jan., 
1823. Died 14 Oct., 1825. 

5. Charles L. Truman, born 24 
March, 1825, at Owego. Married Anna 
Thurston Dexter, daughter of Stephen 
Dexter, of Exeter, R. I., at Owego 12 
July, 1849. He died Sept. 20, 1863. 

6. Laura H. Truman, born 4 Sept., 
1829. Died 5 Jan., 1832. 



242 

7. Aaron Truman, born in 1827 
Died 14 Oct., 1830. 

8. William H . Truman, born 2 
March, 1842, at Owego. Married Mary 
Palmer. She died 13 Jan., 1873. He 
married second Sarah Wild, of New 
York city, 21 March, 1877. He died 5 
Sept., 1895, in New York. 

Lucius Truman was seven years old 
when his father removed from Flem- 
ingville to Owego. After leaving the 
Owego academy he entered into the 
grocery business with his father in 
Rollin block. In 1840, the year of 
his first marriage, he formed a part- 
nership in the general mercantile bus- 
iness with William P. Stone, who had 
been a clerk in Asa H. Truman's 
store, under the firm name of Truman 
& Stone. Their store occupied the 
ground on the south side of Front 
street where Frank M. Baker & Son's 
hardware store is now and was known 
as the "Empire Store." Charles L. 
Truman was afterward received into 
the partnership and the firm of Tru- 
man, Stone & Co. continued the busi- 
ness until 1851, when it was dissolved. 
Lucius Truman removed to Wellsboro, 
Pa., where he engaged in lumbering 
in company with John R. Bowen. 
When the civil war broke out he en- 
listed and was mustered into the ser- 
vice as first lieutenant of Co. E of the 
First rifles (old Bucktails) on May 15, 
1861. Four years afterward, July 28, 
1865, he was mustered out as quarter- 
master of the 109th regiment of Penn- 
sylvania infantry. Then he resumed 
the lumber business. In 1883 he was 
appointed a United States deputy col- 
lector of internal revenue, and in 1887 
he was elected county auditor. He 
died at Wellsboro May 26, 1890. Lu- 
cius Truman built the house on the 



243 

south side of Main street, midway be- 
twen Paige and Ross streets. Tlie 
house was afterward for many years 
owned and occupied by S. S. Truman 
and later by Chas. C. Thomas, and is 
now owned by .James J. Wallter. 

Edward D. Truman, who was five 
years old when the family removed to 
this village, was a clerk afterward in 
his father's store. About the year 
1840 Asa H. Truman took Edward U. 
Truman and his nephew, Stephen S. 
Truman into partnership in the gen- 
eral mercantile business, which part- 
nershi]) continued until the senior 
Truman's death in February, 1S48. 
Then E. D. & S. S. Truman continued 
the business until their store was 
burned in the fire of 1849. They re- 
sumed business after the fire in a 
wooden building which stood on the 
west side of North avenue. The front 
of this store was painted in diamonds 
of different bright colors and the store 
was called the "Diamond Store." 
When a brick store was built on the 
ruins of the Front street store the 
new store also had a diamond front, 
similar to that of the North avenue 
store. E. D. & S. S. Truman occupied 
the new store until February, 1855. 
when a new firm composed of E. D. 
Truman, Gurdon G. Manning, and C. 
E. Schoonmaker was formed under 
the firm name of E. D. Truman & Co. 
The name was changed later to Tru- 
man, Manning & Co. In 1857 E. D. 
Truman sold his interest in the busi- 
ness to his partners and removed to 
Dixon, 111., where he died June 6, 1862. 
Charles L. Truman entered the vol- 
unteer service of the United States as 
a first lieutenant in the 18th regiment 
of infantry March 6, 1862. He was 



244 

brevetted captain Sept. 19, 1863, for 
gallant and meritorious service in the' 
battle of Chickamauga. He was killed 
in battle Sept. 20, 1863. 

William H. Truman, who was only 
six years old when his father died, was 
employed for several years by the 
United States express company. For 
several years previous to his death, 
in 1895, he had been collector of sta- 
tistics of domestic receipts at the 
Produce Exchange in New York city. 

AARON TRUMAN. 
When Aaron Truman came in 1804 
from the town of Sparta to Owego he 
came to teach school. The next year 
he married Capt. Thos. Park's daugh- 
ter. Their children were as follows: 

1. Lyman Park Truman, born 2 
March, 1806, at Park settlement. Mar- 
ried Emily M. Goodrich, daughter of 
Aner Goodrich, of Goodrich settle- 
ment, 10 Jan.. 1838. He died 24 
March, 1881, at Owego, and she 9 
April, 1896. 

2. Charles E. Truman, born 11 
Nov., 1807. Married Harriet Webster 
26 May. 1836. He died 21 July, 1897, 
at Flemingville, and she 21 Oct., 1887. 

3. Dorinda M. Truman, born 24 
Feb., 1809. Married John Gorman 7 
Sept., 1841. He was captain of Co. 
C, 109th regiment, N. Y. Vols., in the 
civil war and was killed in the battle 
of Cold Harbor, Va., 31 May, 1864. 
She died 12 Sept., 1895, at Owego. 

4. Orin Truman, born 17 Feb., 
1811. Died 30 Sept.. 1885, at Owego. 
Unmarried. 

5. Francis W. Truman, born 13 
Dec.. 1812. Died 20 Jan., 1893. Un- 
married. 

6. Charlotte Truman.born 12 Sept., 
1814.. Died 20 Sept.. 1815. 

7. George Truman, born 16 June. 
1816, at Owego. Married Eunice A. 
Goodrich, daughter of Erastus Good- 
rich 19 Nov., 1842. He died 14 Feb., 
1907, at Owego, and she 6 Oct., 1897. 



245 

8. Fanny Truman, born 1 April, 
1818. Married to David L. Goodricli 
13 July, 1841. He died 3 .July, 189G. 
at Owego, and she 10 Jan., 1892. 

9. Mary E. Truman, born 18 June, 
1820. Married to Alfred Dodge 9 Jan., 
1859. He died 13 March, 1900. and she 
3 Oct., 1907. 

10. Adeline Truman, born 17 June, 
1822. Died 13 Feb., 1823, 

LYMAN PARK TRUMAN. 

When Aaron Truman died, in 1823. 
his eldest son, Lyman P. Truman, was 
17 years of age, Aaron Truman's farm 
of sixty acres was so encumbered as 
to almost preclude any possibility of 
retaining it. With the remarkable 
energy which characterised him 
through life Lyman P. Truman set 
himself resolutely at work and 
through hard labor and the greatest 
economy he finally liquidated every 
claim against the farm. He confined 
his attention almost exclusively to 
raising potatoes which he shipped 
down the river in arks, and it was 
from this i)roduct that he realized, 
during his management of the farm, 
a sum sufficient to pay all debts and 
leave a handsome balance with which 
to begin a mercantile business. 

In 1830 he came to Owego and en- 
tered the general country store of his 
uncle, Asa H. Truman, as a clerk, to 
leara the mercantile business. Three 
years later he formed a partnership 
with John M. Greenleaf and began a 
general mercantile business in a store 
which stood on the east side of Lake 
street on ground now occupied by the 
Owego national bank building. This 
partnership continued three years. 

Having established himself secure- 
ly in business here he brought three of 
his brothers, Orin, Francis, and George 



246 

Truman, to Owego and in May, 1837, 
established the firm of L. Truman & 
Brothers, which existed nearly thirty 
years. The brothers conducted an ex- 
tensive mercantile and lumber busi- 
ness. In 1839 Lyman P. Truman pur- 
chased the ground on the south side 
of Front street where Wicks & 
Leahy's shoe store now stands, the 
third store west of Lake street, where 
he built a wooden store, into which 
the firm removed its stock of goods 
from Lake street. When the store 
was burned in the fire of 1849 it was 
immediately replaced with the pres- 
ent brick store, where the brothers 
continued the mercantile business un- 
til 1865. In 1852 Lyman Truman and 
Gurdon Hewitt, Jr., made large in- 
vestments in lands in the state of 
Illinois, from the sale of which they 
made a large amount of money. 

Mr. Truman was active in public 
life. He held various town offices — 
constable, commissioner of highways, 
etc., and was supervisor in 1849 and 
1857. He was a village trustee in 
1835. In 1857 he was elected state 
senator and was re-elected in 1859 
and 1861. 

After the great fire of 1849, which 
swept away all the stores in Front 
and Lake streets, there was a great 
depression in the business commun- 
ity. Many of the insurance companies 
failed and the loss to many property 
owners was a total one. Mr. Truman 
was one of the most active men in re- 
building the business portion of the 
village. It was largely through his 
efforts that the Ahwaga house was 
built. In recognition of his public 
spirit and enterprise a dinner was 
given in his honor at that hotel in the 



247 
evening of July 6, 1852, at which 
many of the prominent citizens and 
their wives were present, on which 
occasion a silver pitcher was pre- 
sented to him. Mr. Truman was pres- 
ident of the old bank of Owego and of 
its successor, the First national bank 
of Owego from 1856 until his death. 

While his brothers went into mer- 
cantile life in Owego, Charles E. Tru- 
nina remained on the farm all his life. 
He served twenty-eight years as a jus- 
tice of the peace and was also for 
many years and until his death post- 
master at Flemingville. 

Before coming to Owego Orin Tru- 
man taught school. From May, 1880, 
until his death he was cashier of the 
First national bank. 

George Truman after the dissolu- 
tion of the firm of L. Truman & 
Brothers continued the mercantile 
business in company with his son-in- 
law, A. Chase Thompson, until January 
1873, when he retired from the dry 
goods trade. He succeeded his 
brother, Lyman P. Truman, as presi- 
dent of the First national bank in 
1881 and held the position until his 
death. He was a trustee of the state 
hospital at Binghamton from June, 
1880, to March, 1892. 

LYMAN TRUMAN. 

Lyman Truman was 21 years of age 
when his father, Shem Truman, set- 
tled at Park settlement. He married 
Lucy Barlow, of Candor, in 1809. He 
was a farmer all his life. He saw 
some military service, as did also 
nearly all the able-bodied men of his 
day, having been commissioned first 
lieutenant in the Sixteenth New York 



248 

regiment of artillery. He died Nov. 
2, 1822. 

The following were the children of 
Lyman and Lucy (Barlow) Truman: 

1. John L. Truman. 

2. Levi B. Truman, born 11 Sept.. 
1809, in Candor, xN. Y. Married Lx)uisa 
Lawrence 23 Oct., 1834. He died 21 
May, 1879, and she 20 Oct., 1881. 

3. James Truman. 

4. Stephen S. Truman, born 28 
April, 1816, in Candor. Married Cor- 
delia Belknap 2 Nov., 1843. He died 
25 April, 1895, at Auburn, Cal., and 
she 29 June, 1902, at Salt Lake City, 
Utah. 

5. Sybil Truman, bom 23 Nov., 
1812, in Candor, N. Y. Married Wil- 
liam P. Stone 5 Nov., 1836. He died 
June 28, 1890, at Owego, and she 4 
Aug., 1900. 

6. Eliza Truman, born 30 April, 
1818. Married Frank R. Weed, of 
Flemingville, 15 Aug., 1844. She died 
6 Sept., 1864. He married second Lucy 
Truman, daughter of Levi B. Truman, 
6 June, 1867. He died 1 April, 1882. 

7. Benjamin L. Truman, bom 23 
June, 1822, in Candor. Married Maria 
Dean 15 Nov., 1852. She died 30 May, 
1882. He married second Susan So- 
phronia Long 28 Feb., 1884. He is the 
only survivor of the family and is 
still living at Owego. 

Stephen S. Truman, William P. 
Stone, and Benjamin L. Truman were 
all Owego merchants. Stephen S. 
Truman left his father's farm in 1837, 
the year following the setting off of 
Chemung county from Tioga, and 
worked in the Tioga county clerk's 
office copying the records of lands 
lying in Chemung county for use in 
that county, in company with Wm. P. 
Stone, Dr. John Frank, and others. 
He was afterward a clerk in Henry 
Camp's store, and later in Gen. John 
Laning's store. In 1840 he went into 
partnershij) with his uncle. Asa H. 
Truman and Asa's son, Edward D. 



249 
Truman, in the mercantile business. 
Particulars of this partnership have 
already been given in these articles. 
In February, 1855, he retired from 
the firm and opened a dry goods and 
grocery store in T. P. Patch's block, 
which stood on the west side of Lake 
street on the ground now occupied by 
the L. N. Chamberlain block. 

William P. Stone was born at Still- 
water, Saratoga county, N. Y., June 
26, 1810. In 1817 his father, Luther 
Stone, came to Tioga county with his 
wife and seven children and lived in a 
log house on Colonel David Fleming's 
farm at Flemingville. In 1823 they 
settled on a farm at Park settlement. 
In 1830 he left the farm to travel 
about the country selling clocks, 
which were manufactured at a factory 
which stood on the east bank of the 
Owego creek, about two miles north 
of this village. In 1834 he began a 
general mercantile business in Owego 
with Sheldon Osborne in a wooden 
store which stood east of the bridge 
in Front street on the ground where 
Truman & Jones's produce store now 
stands. They were unsuccessful in the 
business. In 1837, after having fin- 
ished his work for about a year copy- 
ing the records of Chemung county 
lands in the Tioga county clerk's 
office, he entered his uncle, Asa H. 
Truman's, store as a clerk. In 1839 
he went into the general mercantile 
business in company with Lucius 
Truman. The firm of Truman & 
Stone occupied a store which stood on 
the south side of Front street on the 
ground where Frank M. Baker & 
Son's hardware store now stands. 
Their store was known as "The Em- 
l)ire Store." Charles L. Truman was 



250 
afterward received into the partuer- 
sliip. Later Mr. Stone purchased his 
partner's interest in the business 
which he transferred to his nephew, 
Ezra S. Buckbee. The firm of Stone 
& Co. was subsequently composed of 
Messrs. Stone, Buckbee, Stephen S. 
Truman, and Benjamin L. Truman 
and occupied the block of two stores 
opposite Ahwaga hall, then known as 
the Empire block. When the block 
was burned in March, 1860, the firm 
occupied the store now occupied by 
Buckbee, Peterson, Wood & Co. The 
Trumans had withdrawn from the 
firm Feb. 1, 1860, and Stone & Buck- 
bee continued in business until 1874 
when Mr. Stone sold his interest in 
the store and retired from active 
business. 

Upon their withdrawal from the 
firm of Stone & Co., S. S. and B. I.. 
Truman formed a new partnership 
and began the mercantile business in 
the store now occupied by Henry C. 
Ripley as a shoe store. In 1868 B. L. 
Truman retired from the firm and S. 
S. Truman and his son, John B. Tru- 
man, continued in the business three 
years. In 1876 S. S. Truman removed 
to Nevada and thence in 1880 to 
Auburn, Cal., where he died April 25, 
1895. 

Benjamin L. Truman in March, 
1855, formed a partnership in the dry 
goods business with Gurdon G. Man- 
ning, who had been a clerk in Stone 
& Co.'s store, and C. E. Schoonmaker, 
who had been a clerk in E. D. & S. S. 
Truman's store, and E. D. Truman 
under the firm name of E. D. Truman 
& Co. Three years later this partner- 
ship was dissolved. From 1878 to 



251 
1900 he conducted a grocery business 
in Front street. 

DR. GODFREY WALDO. 
One of the early physicians at Owe- 
go was Dr. Godfrey Waldo, who came 
here from Plymouth, N. H., in the 
summer of 1810, and who lived here 
29 years. He was a descendant of 
Cornelius Waldo, who came from the 
Netherlands to America in 1634 and 
settled at Chelmsford, Mass. His 
father was Daniel Waldo, who was 
born in 1737 and died in 1792, and who 
was a man of no particular account, 
an itinerant, living in various places. 
Dr. Godfrey Waldo was born June 
10, 1773, at Pomfret, Conn. He married 
Elizabeth Carpenter .Jan. 3, 1805. She 
was born May 6, 1783, at Portsmouth, 
N. H. They removed to Owego five 
years after their marriage. They lived 
in the little red house which stood at 
the northeast corner of Front and 
Church streets. The house was oc- 
cupied several years afterward by 
Luther Johnson, an eccentric negro 
barber and fiddler, as a barber shop. 

Dr. Waldo did not practise medicine 
much, but was engaged in other busi- 
ness the nature of which is not known 
now. He was unsuccessful and was 
advertised as an insolvent debtor in 
October, 1811, and again in March, 
1826. In 1839 he removed to Birming- 
ham, Mich., where one of his sons, 
Charles C. Waldo, had settled. Thence 
he removed in ISir, to Pontiac. Mich., 
where he died Sept. 16. 1848. Mrs. 
Waldo was 93 years of age at the time 
of her death at Holly, Mich., March 
18. 1877. Dr. and Mrs. Waldo were 
the parents of thirteen children, the 
ottlv survivors of whom at the time of 



252 
her death was a son, C. C. Waldo, and 
a daughter living in Nebraska. 

JOHN CARMICHAEL. 

One of the first men to engage in 
the jewelry business in Owego was 
John Carmichael, who was of Scotch 
descent, and was born Aug. 12, 1795, 
at Johnstown, N. Y. He began an ap- 
lirenticeship at the trade of a watch- 
maker at Albany when he was sixteen 
years of age. He came to Owego in 
October, 1819 and opened a jewelry 
store and repair shop in one of the 
wooden stores in Caldwell row in 
Front street. In 1835 he built a store 
on the ground where the Tioga na- 
tional bank now stands, where he con- 
ducted a successful jewelry business 
until his store was burned in the Sep- 
tember, 1849, fire. As he was in poor 
health at this time he did not resume 
business. 

Mr. Carmichael was lame many 
years previous to his death and was 
compelled to walk with a crutch. He 
was the first collector of taxes of 
Owego from the time of its incorpora- 
tion as a village in 1827 until 1834, in- 
clusive. He was also for several 
years a village assessor, and was 
treasurer of Tioga county in 1837. 

Mr. Carmichael's first wife was 
Maria Mack, daughter of judge 
Stephen Mack, whom he married Dec. 
25, 1824. She died Sept. 22, 1829. He 
married second Harriet Ely, daughter 
of Dr. Elisha Ely, June 10, 1835. She 
was born Sept. 11, 1794, at Saybrook, 
Conn., and died Sept. 1, 1881, at 
Owego. Mr. Carmichael died April 
24, 1878, at Owego. 

The children of John and Maria J. 
(Mack) Carmichael were as follows: 



253 

1. Charles Ste])hen Carmichael, 
born 22 Jan., 1826, at Owego. Married 
Margaret Caraj), daughter of Adolphus 
Camp, 23 Sept.. 1863. He died 12 
June, 189;;, at Owego, and she 15 Nov.. 
1907, at Binghamton. 

2. Horace Mack Carniichael, boru 
S Feb., 1829. at Owego. Died 24 Sept., 
1866. He was immarried. 

Both Charles and Horace Car- 
michael learned the watchmaktr".-. 
trade in their father's shop and after 
the fire of 1849 continued the business 
in a wooden store which their father 
built on the west side of Lake street, 
the fourth store north of Front street. 
They sold the business in the fall of 
1852 to Horatio N. Greene. In Nov., 
1854, Mr. Greene sold the business to 
the Carmichael brothers and reniovi d 
to Mansfield. Ohio. C. S. &H. M. Car- 
michael continued the business sev- 
eral years. In April, 1864, C. S. Car- 
michael purchased a spoke, sash, and 
blind manufactory in Adaline street, 
which he conducted six year.s. In 
1876 he built on the site of his jewelry 
store the three-story brick block now 
occupied by A. W. Bunzey and Cuneo 
&- Bonugli. 

JOHN R1PI>EY. 

John Ripley was born March 17, 
1792, at Coventry, Tolland county. 
Conn. He was, probably, the descend- 
ant of William Ripley, who came to 
Hingham, Mass., in 1683 from England 
with his wife, two sons, and two 
daughters. Many of the descendants 
of William Ripley settled in Tolland 
county. 

After coming to Owego .lohn Ripley 
was a clerk in Charles Pumpelly's 
store. From 1823 to 1832 he wa- 
under-sheriff of Tioga county and 
lived in the old court house, which 



254 

stood at the southeast corner of Main 
and Park streets. He was the first oc- 
cupant of the building. The second 
story of this building was the court 
room, in which gospel services were 
held on Sunday and performances 
sometimes given in the evening of 
other days in the week, when court 
was not in session. On the lower 
floor was the jail, the jailor's living 
rooms, the sheriff's office, and two jury 
rooms. Mr. Ripley's son and one of 
his daughters were born in this build- 
ing. 

Mr. Ripley was a man of great force 
of character, detei'mined, and one who 
carried out any undertaking fearlessly 
and regardless of any consequences to 
himself. It is related that at one time 
while deputy sheriff he pursued a 
criminal into Canada in the winter 
and without going through the formal- 
ity of obtaining extradition papers, 
seized the fellow by main force, loaded 
him into his cutter, and drove back 
into this state and eventually lodged 
his prisoner in Owego jail. 

Mr. Ripley held the offices of con- 
stable, town collector, and assessor. 
He was elected a justice of the peace 
in 1853 and held the office by re- 
election until his death, with the ex- 
ception of one year (1858.) 

After leaving the court house he 
lived in a small red house owned by 
Charles Pumpelly, which stood on the 
south side of Main street close to the 
sidewalk at the northeast comer of 
the lot on which Charles P. Storrs's 
residence stands, near the foot of 
Spencer avenue. There he lived at 
the time of his death, Jan. 2, 1860. 

Mr. Ripley married Diana Westfall, 
of Warren Pa., Feb. 4, 1817. She was 



255 
born in Orange county, N. Y., May 23. 
1796, and died at Owego Dec. 29, 18GS. 
The children of John and Diana 
(Westfall) Ripley were as follows: 

1. Eliza Smith Ripley, born 24 
April, 181S, at Owego. Married Bben- 
ezer Woodbridge, of Candor, 20 Sept., 
1840. He died in 1896 at Lee Centre, 
111. Mrs. Woodbridge is still living at 
Dixon, 111. 

2. Sarah Pierce Ripley, born 11 
Sept., 1820, at Owego. Died 15 .June, 
1894, at Owego. 

3. Charles Pomeroy Ripley, born 
28 Dec, 1823, at Owego. Married 
Sarah Merrick in Kentucky in 1849. 
He died 31 Dec, 1863, at Sterling, 111., 
and she 27 Nov., 1907. 

4. Frances Clarissa Ripley, born 23 
Aug., 1827, at Owego. Married Ezra 
S. Buckbee 16 Oct., 1849. at Owego. 
He died 10 Aug., 1883. Mrs. Buckbee 
is still living in Owego. 

EZRA S. SWEET. 

Ezra Smith Sweet, for many years 
a prominent member of the bar of 
Tioga county, came to Owego in 1825. 
He was a grandson of Silas Sweet, 
vvho was born in 1745 and who lived 
at New Bedford, Mass., where h^- 
worked as a blacksmith, forging an- 
chors for whaling and other vessels, 
from 1770 to 1800, when he removed 
to Bradford, Vt., where he purchased 
a farm and where he lived the rest of 
his life. He was a soldier in Captain 
Thomas Sawyer's company of Ver- 
mont militia, raised for the defence 
of the northern frontier of the United 
States. He entered the service June 
20, 1779, and was discharged Aug. 20. 
1779. He died at Bradford, Vt, Nov. 
25, 1822. 

Silas Sweet had four children, one 
of whom, Paul Sweet, was the father 
of Ezra S. Sweet. Paul Sweet was 
born at New Bedford April 1, 1775. 



256 
He was a merchant and held the office 
of justice of the peace. His first wife 
was Rebecca Chadwick, whom he mar- 
ried Sept. 11, 1794, and his second 
wife was Sarah Ford. Paul and Re- 
becca (Chadwick) Sweet were the pa- 
rents of seven children, of whom Ezra. 
S. Sweet was the oldest. 

Ezra S- Sweei was bom, June 3„ 
1796, at New Bedford. His parents re- 
moved to Bradford, Vt., where his 
father died April 27, 181 r>, when Ezra 
S. Sweet was nearly 19 years old. 
Ezra S. Sweet was a school teacher a 
few years. In 1819 he married Janet 
McLaren Clow, daughter of Peter 
Clow, at Schagticoke, X. Y., and soou 
afterward removed to Salem, N. Y., 
where he studied law. 

fn December, 182.5, after his admis- 
sion to the bar, he came to Owego. 
He began law practice here in part- 
nership with William Piatt. In 1832, 
his business connection with Mr. 
Piatt having been dissolved, he formed 
a law partnership with Col. Nathaniel 
\V. i:)avis, which existed about nine 
years. He afterward practised law 
alone until his eldest son, Charles H. 
Sweet,was admitted to the bar in July, 
LS.'JO. The partnership of the father 
and son continued until tne breaking 
out of the civil war, when Chas. H. 
Sweet enlisted in the federal service. 
Ezra S. Sweet continued the practice 
of law until his death, Oct. 16, 1869. 

Mr. Sweet was a leading member of 
the old Whig party and was active in 
political affairs. He was the first 
clerk of the board of village trustees 
from its organization in 1827 until 
1832. He was district attorney of 
Tioga county from July, 1838, to June, 
1841, and from 1847 to 1851. He was 



257 
a member of assembly in 1849. He 
was later nominated to congress by 
the Whigs and defeated. He was 
twice nominated for county judge and 
in each instance defeated, first by the 
Whigs, in 1851, and second by the 
Democrats in 1863. He held the office 
of justice of the peace several years. 

Esquire Sweet (as he was generally 
known) was noted among the lawyers 
for many years as the best after-din- 
ner speaker and stump orator 
in Owego. For a long and sus- 
tained effort he was not re- 
markable, but for a short speech, 
pithy, eloquent sententious, and some- 
times sarcastic, such as he was often 
called upon to make at a public rece])- 
tion, a political gathering, or a ban- 
quet, his sparkling wit and bril- 
liant phrases charmed his hearers. 
William F. Warner, who knew him 
well as a fellow member of the bar, 
mentions him in his centennial his- 
tory, as follows: 

"He possessed many fine qualitie.s 
as a jury lawyer. He was brilliant, 
witty, sarcastic, and full of anecdote. 
Jurymen were not apt to dose, nor 
even become inattentive, while Ezra 
Sweet claimed attention. Like judge 
Strong, he had as a lawyer more suc- 
cess with a jury than at the bar. As a 
political speaker he was very popular 
for many years." 

The children of Ezra S. and .Janet 
(Clow) Sweet were as follows: 

1. Maria Sweet, born Nov., 1820. 
Died Aug., 1821. 

2. Maria Louise Sweet, born '> 
March, 1822, at Salem, N. Y. Married 
Ben. .Johnson 31 Oct., 1843. He died 
19 Aug., 1863, at Vicksburg, Miss. She 
married second Gen. Henry Martyn 
Whittelsey 12 July, 1866. He died 8 
Aug., 1873, at Washington and she 
also at Washington 14 April, 1878. 



25S 

o. Charles Henry Sweet, bom 1<? 
Feb., 1S2G, in Saratoga count.y, N. Y. 
He married first Rosalia Laura 
Barnes, daughter of Charles R.. 
Barnes, of Owego. She died 9 May, 
1857. at Owego. He married second 
Prancelia E. Hubbard, daughter of 
Henry N. Hubbard, of Owego, 2!> 
Sept., 1859. She is now living at Al- 
bany. He died 29 Feb., 1892, at 
Owego. 

4. Harriet Elizabeth Sweet, born 
12 Jan.. 1829. at Owego. Married Ed- 
ward Hamilton Truex 9 Nov., 1853, at 
Owego. She died in New York citv 
17 Nov., 1893. 

5. Paul Sweet, born 1 May, 1831, at 
Owego. He was a civil engineeer. He 
died in Texas 17 May, 1881. 

6. Alary Delphine Sweet, born :)()■ 
Jan., 1841. at Owego. Married Linus 
Edwin Post, of Owego, S Feb., 1871. 

Ben. Johnson was a son of Haynes 
Johnson and was bom at Enfield, New 
Hampshire, March 25, 1809, and was 
reared from the age of nine years in 
the family of his uncle, also named 
Ben Johnson, a prominent lawyer at 
Ithaca, N. Y. He was graduated from 
Union college in 1830. He studied 
law with his uncle at Ithaca and after 
his admission to the bar lived at 
Vicksburg, Miss., where he practised 
law twenty years. In 1820 he sold his 
residence and slaves, retired from 
practice, and travelled in Europe in 
1850. coming later to Owego. During 
the civil war in 1862 he was employed 
by the United States government in 
aid of the revenue department on the 
Mississippi river, and was a short 
time -before his death appointed post- 
master at Vicksburg by president Lin- 
coln. He died at Vicksburg Aug. 19. 
1863. 

Gen. Henry M. Whittlesey was born 
Aug. 12, 1821. He was a son of Rev. 
Samuel Whittelsey, of New Preston, 



259 

€oini., who in ISIT took charge of the 
deaf and dumb asylum at Hartford. 
Conn. Later he and his wife con- 
ducted large seminaries at Utica and 
Canandaigua, X- Y. Gen. Whittelsy 
was educated at Yale college and was 
admitted to the bar in 184o. He re- 
moved to Detroit.Mich.jn 1851. He en- 
tered the volunteer military service of 
tlie United States as a captain in the 
civil war and rose to be chief quart' r- 
master of the army of Georgia with 
the rank of colonel in August, 1865. 
He was chief quartermaster of the de- 
partment of Mississippi in September, 
1866, and was mustered out with the 
rank of brigadier general by In-ever 
.Tuly 17, 1869. He was appointtd 
colli ptroller of the city of Washington 
in 1870. He died at St. Elizabeth ho.- 
pital, near Washington, April 14. 1S7S, 
Charles H. Sweet was admitted to 
the bar of Tioga county Feb. 10, 1S.')I). 
He practised law in company with his 
father until the breaking out of the 
civil war when he enlisted and was 
quartermaster's clerk under Cai)t. 
Ransom of the regular army. After 
his discharge from the army he con- 
ducted the business of a planing mill 
in Owego a few years, going later to 
Elmira whei'e he was in the service of 
the Erie railway company in the com- 
pany's offices for more than stvintetn 
years. 

Edward H. Truex was a son of 
David Campbell Truex, of AUjany, and 
a great grandson of Isaac .Taco1» Trues. 
a Huguenot, who was born at Druex, 
France, and who came to America 
with his parents in the ship "Anna" 
in 1623. He came to Owego in 1851 
and opened a drug store in the store 
at the west end of the Ahwaga house 



260 

block. He sold the business in Octo- 
ber, 1854, to Thomas C. Piatt and re- 
moved to New York, where he for 
many years conducted a wholesale 
drug business and where he died. 

NATHANIEL AND CALEB H. 
SACKETT. 

Two of the early settlers at Owego 
and who afterward removed to the 
town of Candor were Nathaniel and 
Caleb H. Sackett, twin brothers, who 
came here from Westchester county, 
N. Y., in 1793. 

They were descendants of Simon 
Sackett, who sailed in the ship, 
"Lyon" Dec. 1, 1630, from Bristol, 
England, and settled at Boston, Mass. 
The descendants of Simon Sackett in 
consecutive order were Simon 
Sackett, Jr., Capt. Joseph Sackett, 
Rev. Richard Sackett, Nathaniel 
Sackett, and Col. Richard Sackett. 

Col. Richard Sackett, who was the 
father of Nathaniel and Caleb H. 
Sackett, lived in the town of Bedford, 
Westchester County, N. Y., and after- 
ward in New York city. He was a com- 
missioned officer in the war of the 
revolution, serving almost contin- 
uously from the beginning to the end 
of the seven years struggle for inde- 
pendence. In May, 1776, he was com- 
missioned first lieutenant of grena- 
diers in the Second Midland regiment. 
and two years later was promoted to 
captain. He was captured by the 
British in a road which is now within 
the limits of New York city and im- 
prisoned several months. Immediately 
after the disbandment of the conti- 
nental army he was commissioned 
lieutenant-colonel commandant of the 
Westchester county regiment of mill- 



261 

tia and served until 17!:)2, when he re- 
moved to New York city and resigned 
his commission. The next year he 
purchased a tract of land at Owego 
and settled his son. Nathaniel Sackett. 
on it. 

Col. Richard Sackett was taken ill 
and died in 1799, while on a visit to 
his real estate here and his body was 
buried in the old burying ground at 
the southeast corntr of Main and 
Court streets. 

There were two Richard Sacketts 
who purchased land in Tioga county. 
The second Richard Sackett was born 
in Westchester county June 7, 1754. 
He was a son of Joseph Sackett and 
grandson of Rev. Richard Sackett, 
who was the grandfather of Col. Rich- 
ard Sackett. The second Richard 
Sackett was a man of wealth, who re- 
moved in the summer of 1793 from 
the town of Bedford to the western 
part of the town of Nichols, where he 
had purchased of Robert Lettis 
Hooper, the original patentee, a square 
mile of land for £SUS. Some account 
of this Richard Sackett may be found 
in Gay's "Gazetteer of Tioga County," 
published in 1888, on page 274. He 
died in 1827. 

Col. Richard Sackett married Racht 1 
Holmes. Their children wnv as fol- 
lows: 

1. Nathaniel Sackett, born 9 Ajjri], 
1770. Married Sarah VVarrtn 24 Jan., 
1796. He died 7 Nov., 1817. at Cata- 
tonk, N. Y. 

2. Col. Caleb H. Sackett, born 9 
Ai)ril, 1770. Married Jane McMaster. 
daughter of James McMaster, the first 
settler here and the original owner 
by purchase from the Indians of all 
the land on which the village of 
Owego is situated. 



3. Betsy Sackett. Married William 
Holmes. 

4. Polly Sackett. 

Richard Sackett left a will in which 
he bequeathed to his wife, in trust, 
one-third of his estate and to his two 
sons the other two-thirds. At her 
death her third was to become the 
property of the two sons. Small 
amounts were left in trust to the two 
daughters. 

In August, 1798, Nathaniel Sackett 
purchased of James McMaster, Jr., 
lot No. 21 on the east bank of the 
Owego creek in the north western part 
ofthe town of Owego, near the Newark 
Valley town line, containing 100 acres, 
together with the village lot on what 
is now the southwest corner of Main 
and Church streets, extending one-half 
the distance south to Front street and 
one-half the distance west to Lake 
street. The south half of this lot was 
owned by Luke Bates, who had a tav- 
ern on the Front street end, which 
Bates sold in 1803 to Chas. Pumpelly 
and George Stevens. 

In 1799 Nathaniel Sackett pur- 
chased of James McMaster 100 acres 
of land for $2,450 in the western part 
of this village, bounded south by the 
Susquehanna river and west by the 
Owego creek. The north line of this 
land was at a point a short distance 
south of where the Erie railroad now 
crosses the creek and extended east- 
erly and diagonally across Main street 
to a point about one-half way between 
Park and Academy streets on the Sus- 
quehanna river. This was known on 
the original town map as Lot No. 1. 
The eastern portion of this proi)erty 
was afterward laid out into village 
lots. As early as September, 1804. 



263 

that portion of it wliich is now bound 
ed south by the Susquehanna river, 
west by William street, north by Main 
street, and east by Academy street 
was laid out into village lots, with the 
exception of a strip on the Main street 
end on which Col. David Pixley after- 
ward lived. 

Nathaniel Sackett lived at Owego 
until 1803, when he removed to Cata- 
tonk, where he built a saw mill and 
conducted a tannery. He became one 
of the influential men of the town oi 
Candor. At the first town meeting in 
March, 1811, he was elected a com- 
missioner of highways. He was thp 
second supervisor elected in the town 
after its organization, serving from 
1812 to 1817. He was one of the first 
commissioners of schools in 1813. 

Col. Caleb H. Sackett purchased 
land at what is now Candor village. 
It is noted in one of the local histories 
that "after the disastrous fire which 
swept the settlement [Candor] in 
1813, Caleb Sackett erected a grist 
mill." He also built a saw mill at about 
this time and kept a tavern. It was on 
this farm that the body of his father- 
in-law, .James McMaster, was buried. 
About the year 1832 he removed to 
the town of Ward, Allegany county, N. 
Y., where he was a farmer and wher- 
he died. His wife died at Almond. 
N. Y. 

The twin brothers, Nathaniel and 
Col. Caleb H. Sackett were both so! 
diers in I.ieut.-Col. .Jacob Swartwood's 
regiment of infantry in brigadier- 
general Coe's Tioga and Broome brig- 
ade. Nathaniel Sackett was ap- 
pointed quartermaster April 27, 1810. 
Caleb H. Sackett's name also appears 
in the military records as paymaster 



264 
of the same regiment the same year. 
In 1SI7 he was adjutant in the 95th 
regiment. In 1820 he was promoted 
to major of the same regiment and 
in IS21 to lieutenant-colonel of a new^ 
regiment of infantry, which was that 
year foniied from a part of the 95th 
regiment and denominated the 199th 
regiment. 

The children of Nathaniel and 
Sarah (Warren) Sackett were as fol- 
lows: 

1. Capt. Richard H. Sackett, bom 
5 Dec, 1796, at Owego. Married 
Eunice Hollister. He died 15 Aug.. 
1876, at Owego. 

2. Polly Sackett, born 8 .Ian.. 1799. 
Died 19 Feb., 1799. 

.■'.. Betsy Bush Sackett, born 1 
April, 1800, at Owego. Married Wil- 
liam Walter Hunt, of Camden, N. J., 
10 Sept., 1818. She died 7 Oct., 1885. 

4. William H. Sackett, born 2'J 
Sept., 1802, at Owego. Married first 
Pluma Woodford, daughter of Ozias 
Woodford. 1 Nov., 1827. He married 
second Mary .lane Payne Clark, of 
Newark, N. J., 18 April, 1867. He died 
?,0 May, 1878. 

.>. Nathaniel Lord Sackett, born 
15 Oct., 1804, at Catatonk. Married 
lAicv Smith in 1828. He died 22 .luly, 
1855. 

6. Polly Teresa Sackett, born 24 
Aug., 1807. Married .lames Clark, of 
Ithaca, N. Y. She died 2 Aug., 1848. 

7. .John James Sackett, born 10 
Nov. 1809, at Catatonk. Married first 
Adelaide Stanley. He married second 
Fanny B. Talcott, daughter of George 
Lord Talcott, of Owego, 6 Sept., 1836. 
He died 9 Dec, 1879, at Candor, and 
she 7 Dec. 1863. 

8. Sarah Warren Sackett, born 14 
April, 1812. Married Ira Keeler. of 
Candor, 11 Feb., 1836. She died 9 
March, 1886. 

9. Susan Mead Sackett. born •> 
Feb., 1815. Married Elias Richardson, 
of West Newark. He died 10 Sept., 
1892, at McGrawville. N. Y., and she 
4 Mav, 1874, at Ottawa, 111. 



265 

10. Rachel H. Sackett, born 23 

Oct., 1817. Married Robert E. Joslin, 

of Candor, November, 1841. She died 

17 Oct., 1882. 

Elias Ricliardson was born at Attle- 
boro, Mass., March 3, 1802, and came 
to West Newark in 1819. He removed 
in 185.5 to Ottawa, 111., where he bought 
and sold grain and cattle. In 1880 he 
returned to this state and lived with 
his daughter. Miss Adell Richardson, 
at McGrawville, N. Y., until his death. 
He was a justice of the peace of th-^ 
town of Newark Valley continuously 
for twenty-four years and until his re- 
moval from West Newark in 1855. 

In 1818, when Richard H. Sackett 
was about 21 years of age, he was ap 
pointed quartermaster of the 95th reg- 
iment of New York state infantry, of 
which his uncle, Caleb H. Sackett, was 
adjutant, and in 1821, when the 199th 
regiment was formed from a part of 
the 95th regiment, and which his 
uncle commanded as lieutenant- 
colonel, he was made adjutant. Mr. 
Sackett and his sons, Charles R. anl 
Samuel H. Sackett, conducted the Ca- 
atonk tannery under the firm name oi 
Richard H. Sackett & Sons for many 
years and until it was purchased by 
G. Truman & Co. in 1864. 

Richard H. Sackett and his brother. 
John .J. Sackett, built and conducted 
for many years a woollen mill at Can- 
dor, where John J. Sackett also kept 
a general store for a long time. John 
J. Sackett was sheriff of Tioga county 
in 1846. He died at Candor. 

Richard H. Sackett removed to Ow^- 
go in 1864 and purchased the hou^-^ 
built by Henry L. Bean on the south 
side of Front street, opjiosite Ross 
street, now owned by Fayette S. 
Curtis, and he died there in 1876. 



266 
LATHAM A. BURROWS. 

Latham A. Buri'ows, who was for 
several years a leading citizen of the 
village of Owego, was a son of Rev. 
Roswell Burrows and was born Aug. 
'M), 1782, at Groton, Conn. 

The first member of the Burrows 
family in America of whom there is 
any record was Robert Burrows, who 
was at Wethersfield, Conn., in 1641, 
and afterward at New London. His 
son. John Burrows, had a son also 
named .John Burrows. A son of the 
last named John Burrows was Rev. 
Silas Burrows, who was pastor or 
the Second Baptist church at Gro- 
ton, Conn., where he labored sixty- 
three years and where he died in 1818. 

Rev. Roswell Burrows, son of Rev. 
Silas Burrows, was born at Groton 
Sept. 2, 1768. At the age of 17 he 
joined the Second Baptist church of 
Groton. At 38 years of age he was or- 
dained to the ministry. He soon after- 
ward made a missionary tour through 
western New York, travelling on horse- 
back about 1,300 miles and finding 
what is now Buffalo, where there was 
not then a soul professing religion of 
any name. He preached afterward at 
Preston, Conn., and Rocky Point, R. 
1., and later succeeded his father at 
Groton, Conn., in 1818, as pastor of the 
Second Baptist church.^ His wife was 
Jerusha Avery, daughter of Latham 
Avery. She died Nov. 3, 1838. In her 
reminiscences, published not long 
since in the Gazette, Mrs. Harriet G. 
Tinkham mentions Mr. Burrows as the 
first Baptist minister she remembered 
ever hearing preach in Owego. 

Latham A. Burrows served for a 
time as an officer in the war of 1812-13. 



267 

He studied law and was admitted to 
the bar in 1816. He married Sarah 
Lester, daughter of Christopher I^es- 
ter, of Groton, in November, I.SIC. 
She died Nov. 11, 1860, in Buffalo. 

In 1819, judge Burrows came to Owe- 
go. From Feb. 14, 1821, to .Tan. 1, 1822, 
he was county clerk of Broome county, 
which county Included Owego and 
other towns now in Tioga county from 
1806 until 1822. From 1824 to 1827, in- 
clusive, he was an associate judge of 
Tioga county. In 1S27 he was elected 
first judge of the court of common 
pleas, and he was the first i)rofessional 
lawyer who sat on the commion pleas 
bench in this county. He was the rep- 
resentative of the sixth district in the 
state senate from 1824 to 1828. 

In December, 1828. judge Burrows 
engaged in the general mercantile bus- 
iness. His store was in the old leaning 
tavern, which had been occupied by 
Col. Amos Martin. His store was af- 
terward on the south side of Front 
street, whf re Buckbee, Ptterson, 
Wood & Co.'s store is now. In 18;'.!) 
he removed into one of the stores in 
the RoUin block. 

.Judge Burrows at one time lived on 
the west side of Park street. In 18:;l 
he purchased the lot at the northeast 
corner of Front and Church streets, 
on which he built the brick residence 
now owned and occupied by Frederick 
C. Hewitt. 

During his mercantile caret r judge 
Burrows was president of Owego vil- 
lage from 1836 to 1S39, inclusive. He 
saw some military service, having in 
1817 been commissioned captain of one 
of the companies in the 53d New York 
regiment of infantry. He was one of 
the first trustees of the Owego academy 



26S 

in 1S2S. He removed in 1839 to Roch- 
ester, where he engaged m the bank- 
ing business. In 1844 he removed to 
Buffalo, where he was in the real es- 
tate business all the rest of his life. 
He died Sept. 25, 1855. 
The children of Latham A. and Sarah 
(Lester) Burrows were as follows: 

1. Latham A. Burrows, Jr., born 
.June 5, 1819, at Owego. He was grad- 
uated from Brown university and 
studied law in New York city. He 
died 7 Sept., 1847, at Buffalo. He was 
unmarried. 

2. Roswell L. Burrows, born March 
12, 1821, at Owego. Married Maria W. 
French 6 Jan., 1848. He died 15 Feb.. 
1897, at Buffalo. She is still living in 
that city. 

3. Sarah Ann Burrows, born 2 Feb., 
1823. at Owego. She lived in Buffalo 
and died Aug. 6, 1848, at Parma, N. Y.. 
where she was visiting. She was un- 
married. 

4. Jerusha A. Burrows, born 9 Sept., 
1825. Married W. H. H. Newman, of 
Buffalo, in 1849. They are both still 
living in Buffalo. 

5. Mary J. Burrows, born 14 May. 
1827, at Owego. Married D. K. Robin- 
son, of Buffalo, in 1849. He died in 
Nov., 1887, at Ashville, N. C, and she 
26 .Jan., 1907, at Buffalo. 

6. George W. Burrows. born 22 Feb.. 
1830, at Owego. Died 14 May, 1830. 

7. Lucy Burrows, born 13 Feb.. 
1833, at Owego. Married W. R. Cop- 
pock, of Buffalo, in April, 1858. He 
died 9 Sept., 1897, at Marshalltown, 
Iowa, and she is still living at Buffalo. 

8. Margaret W. Burrows, born 15 
June, 1837, at Owego. Died Feb. 11, 
1838. 

DAVID THURSTON. 

One of the early residents at Owego 
was David Thurston, who came here in 
1812 from New Hampshire. He was a 
grandson of Benjamin Thurston, who 
was a descendant of Daniel Thurston, 
of Newberry, Mass., and son of David 



269 
Thurston, who was one of the first set- 
tlers of Marlboro, N. H., as early as 
1777 and who lived several years at 
Leominster, Mass. 

David Thurston, the son, was born 
Oct. 17, 1768, at Leominster. He mar- 
ried Fanny Barling, daughter of Rev. 
David Darling, of Keene, N. H. He 
was a farmer and when he came to 
Owego he lived on the south side of 
the river on the farm which lies w^est 
of the highway which goes over the 
hill to the Montrose turnpike and 
south of the road from Owego to Nich- 
ols. Later he lived in the house 
known as the "haunted house," near 
the mouth of the Hollenback creek and 
later on the north side of North 
avenue, where he conducted a board- 
ing house for twenty-five years or 
more. He was one of seven persons 
who united to form the first Methodist 
church at Owego. He died Jan. 16,1858, 
aged 90 years. His wife died Jan. 3, 
1860. His father, David Thurston, 
came to live with him at Owego, and 
he also died here Aug. 6, 1826, and he 
was also 90 years old at the time of his 
death. 

The children of David and Fanny 
(Darling) Thurston were as follows: 

1. Fanny Thurston, born 27 June. 
1809, at Marlboro, N. H. Married 
Printice Ransom, of Owego, 19 Oct., 
1830. She died 18 July, 1902, and he 
15 Oct., 1889, at Iowa City, la. 

2. Nancy Thurston, born 4 Dec, 
1812, at Marlboro, N. H. Died 9 May, 
1814, at Owego. 

3. Nancy Darling Thurston, born 
24 March, "l814, at Owego. She was 
graduated from Cazenovia seminary 
and taught school many years in New 
York, Mississippi, and Mobile, Ala- 
bama, where she was married 6 Feb., 
1864, to Drury Thom|)son, a grandson 
of Gen. Elijah Clark of Revolutionary 



270 

history. She died :',l Aug., 1886, at 
Mobile, Alabama. 

4. Geo. Waldo Thurston, born ID 
April, 1816, at Owego. Married Mary 
Ann Collins of New York city. He 
died 6 Aug., 1895, at Owego, and she 
31 Dec, 1897. 

5. Rev. David Whitney Thurston, 
born 8 April, 1818, at Owego. Married 
Elizabeth S. Brown. He died 21 Dec, 
1900, in Syracuse. N. Y. 

6. John Metcalf Thurston, born 16 
Oct., 1820, at Owego. Married first, in 
1850, Sarah Wood, and second, 30 
April, 1860, Persis Wright. He is still 
living at Utica, N. Y. 

7. Mary Almeda Thurston, born 10 
Feb., 1823, Married first Anson Gar- 
rison, of Cold Spring, N. Y. He died 7 
Feb., 1851, at Owego. She married 
second, 28 Jan., 1878, Rev. Benjamin 
Pomeroy, of the Troy, N. Y., M. E. con- 
ference. 

8. Col. James Sidney Thurston, 
born 14 Oct., 1825, at Owego. Married 
Phebe Ann VanBunschoten. She died 
5 Jan., 1899, at Albany, N. Y. 

Rev. David Whitney Thurston in 
early life received a license to exhort 
and was afterward ordained a min- 
ister. He preached twenty years. He 
was an evangelist thirty years, sta- 
tioned at Asbury Park, N. J., and was 
for several years presiding elder. 

George W. Thurston was a cabinet 
maker. He learned his trade in Isaac 
B. Ogden's shop in Main street. He 
for many years conducted a furniture 
and undertaking store in a wooden 
building on the east side of north 
avenue which stood where the brick 
building occupied for several years by 
D. Beach & Co. now stands. During 
the civil war he was engaged about a 
year with a construction corps, build- 
ing bridges on the military railroads. 
Later he conducted a planing mill and 
lumber yard at Owego. 



271 

Col. James S. Thurston was actively 
engaged in business at Owego and 
later was prominent in public affairs. 
He was in the grocery business from 
1856 to 1S62. When the civil war 
broke out he went to the front as quar- 
termaster of the 109th regiment, in 
August, 1SG3, he was appointed an 
army paymaster with the rank of ma- 
jor and assigned to the department of 
the west. In November, 1865, he was 
l)romoted to lieutenant-colonel, and af- 
terward received the rank of colonel. 
In 1868 and 1870 he was business man- 
ager of the Elmira Advertiser. He 
was afterward publisher of the South- 
ern Tier Leader in Elmira. During 
his sojourn there he was twice elected 
an alderman. He was treasurer of the 
Southern Tier savings bank and super- 
intendent of the Nobles manufactur- 
ing company. In 1880 Col. Thurston 
was appointed superintendent of the 
banking department of this state. In 
August, 1883, he resigned and became 
secretary of the American loan and 
trust company of New York city. 
In .lanuary, 1886, he was again ap- 
pointed deputy superintendent of the 
banking department of this state. In 
October, 1901, he resigned this position 
and retired from public life. He has , 
lived ever since on his farm on Lake 
Keuka, near Penn Yan. 



272 
JUDGE ZIBA A. LELAND. 

One of the early lawyers at Owego 
was Ziba A. Lelaiid, who was born in 
Vermont. Soon after his graduation 
from college he came here and formed 
a law partnership with John H. Avery 
May 1, 1820. In 1822 he was ap- 
pointed a justice of the peace. Soon 
afterward he removed to Bath, 
where in 1825 he obtained some pro- 
fessional prominence for his untiring 
zeal and ability shown in the defence 
of a man named Douglas, who was 
tried for the murder of one Ives, who 
had attempted to arrest Douglas for a 
felony that he was suspected of hav- 
ing committed, and who, while strug- 
gling to escape, stabbed Ives with an 
ordinary pocket knife, fatally wound- 
ing him. Ives had no warrant for 
Douglas's arrest, neither was he an 
officer nor acting in aid of an officer. 
Douglao was a member of a gang of 
burglars and thieves living near the 
Canisteo river, not far from Addison. 
The gang had become a terror to the 
whole region between Big Flats and 
llornellsville, and the excited inhabi- 
tants thirsted for vtngeance. Notwith- 
standing the ability with which Doug- 
las was defended he was convicted 
and hanged. In 1838 Mr. Leland was 
elected first judge of Steuben county 
and served until 1843. He represent- 
ed Steuben county in the asembly in 
1842 and 1843. Later in life he re- 
moved to Auburn, where he practised 
law several years, and thence to Sar:i 
toga county, where he died. 

J.\MES, JOHN, AND ROBERT 
CAMERON. 

.lames, John, and Robert Cameron, 
brothers, were sons of John Cameron, 
a farmer, and were born in Chance- 



273 
ford township, York county, Pa.— 
James in 1S07, John June 25, 1S14, 
and Robert Feb. 3, 1817. 

James Cameron came to Owego 
about the year 1829 and was clerk in 
Alanson Dean's tavern. This tavern 
stood at the southeast corner of Main 
and Lake streets. It was burned in 
1845 and the Central house was built 
on its site. Mr Dean kept the house 
from 1829 to 1831. He also had a 
store at the southwest corner of the 
same streets, and Mr. Cameron soon 
went there as a clerk. About seven 
years afterward he began a grocery 
business on his own account in a 
wooden store which stood at the 
northeast corner of Main street and 
North avenue. In 1838 he purchased 
the corner property and erected a 
store and dwelling house adjoining 
thereon. His property was burned in 
February, 1854. Mr. Cameron was 
elected a justice of the peace in 1846 
and served several years. His office 
was in the front part of his house in 
Main street. He also held the office 
of supervisor of the town of Owego 
in 1843. 

In January, 1851, James Cameron 
and Charles T. Bell opened a gro- 
cery store in Dean & Perkins's 
wooden building at the southwest cor- 
ner of Lake and Main streets. The 
partnership was dissolved in Decem- 
ber, 1852, Mr. Cameron withdrawmg 
from the firm. He died May 31, 1865, 
at Owego. He was twice married. 
His first wife,Adelia Dwight, died May 
27, 1847, aged 38 years, and his second 
wife, Diana Merchant Nov. 11, 1865, 
aged 53 years. Mr. Cameron had one 
son Rev. James Gibson Cameron, who 
was born Oct. 4, 1852, at Owego and 



274 

who is now living at Baltimore, Md., 
where he is in charge of Cavalry mis- 
sion. 

John and Robert Cameron both 
came to Owego in 1831. John Came- 
ron worked at the carpenter's trade 
in Owego until 1834 and afterward in 
Xew York city until 1838, when he re- 
turned and entered into partnership 
with his brother, James, in the gro- 
cery business. In 1840 he opened a 
grocery store which he called "The 
Farmers' Exchange" on the west side 
of North avenue, a few doors north of 
Main street. The next year. May 27, 
1S41, he married Mary Jane Cushman, 
daughter of Richard E. Cushman, and 
lived for several years in a double 
house, painted red, which stood on the 
east side of North avenue, and which 
occupied the ground on which Sporer, 
Carlson & Berry's piano store and the 
store south of it now stand. This 
house had been previously occupied 
by Daniel Armstrong. The family af- 
terward lived over the grocery store 
on the other side of the street. 

Mr. Cameron continued the grocery 
business here until the great fire of 
September, 1849. While the fire was 
raging T. I. Chatfield, whose store in 
Front street had been burned, came 
to Mr. Cameron and purchased Mr. 
Cameron's store and all his stock of 
goods except the liquors and took im- 
mediate possession. Later Mr. Cam- 
eron resumed business in Briggs's 
cooper shop, which stood where Ray- 
mond & Emery's carriage shop is now 
at the northwest corner of North 
avenue and Temple street. Later he 
bought and removed to the store 
which Wm. A. Ely had built in 1814 
on the south side of Main street at the 



275 
foot of Xorth avenue, where he con- 
tinued in business until 1869, when he 
sold the store to Anson Decker and his 
goods to John Welch. The store 
which Mr. Chatfield had purchased 
from Mr. Cameron was burned in 
April, 1873, and on its site X. T. Bur- 
ton built a block of two stores, which 
stands there now. Mr. Cameron spent 
nearly all the rest of his life in Owego 
and died here Sept. 28, 1905, at the ad- 
vanced age of 91 years. His wife died 
Nov. 2.5, 1897, at Owego. 

The children of John and Mary J. 
(Cushman) Cameron were all born 
at Owego as follows: 

1. George F. Cameron, born 12 
March, 1842. Married Mary E. Keeler 
at Waverly, N. Y.. 28 Nov., 1865. He 
died 6 Sept., 1902 at Paterson, N. J. 

2. Charles A. Cameron, born 12 
Dec, 1843. Married Mary P. Hurlburt 
at Ithaca, N. Y., 8 Oct., 186.5. She died 
in Brooklyn, N. Y., 17 Nov., 1876. 

3. Calphurnia T. Cameron, born 1 
Aug., 1845. Died 11 Feb., 1859, at 
Owego. 

4. John D. Cameron, born 18 April. 
1847. Married Mercy D. Dutcher at 
Catskill, N. Y., 3 Sept., 1872. 

5. Sarah Adelia Eva Cameron, 
born 16 May, 1851. Died 3 June. 1857, 
at Owego 

6. Frederick H. Cameron, born 5 
Aug., 1861. Married Lizzie M. 
Wheaton, of Binghamton, N. Y., 29 
Oct., 1893. He died 2 June, 1899. at 
Owego. 

Robert Cameron when he came to 
Owego became a clerk in James Cam- 
eron's store, and was afterward his 
brother's partner. The i)artnershi]) 
continued until 1838. In 1840 he 
opened a grocery store in a 
wooden store owned by S. S. Tinkham, 
the first door below the bridge in 
Front street. He afterward purchased 
property above the bridge and con- 



276 

tinned business there until the fire of 
1849. He rebuilt with brick on the 
same site and resumed business there. 
He afterward built a brick store at the 
northwest corner of Front and Park 
streets where he conducted the gro- 
cery business from Nov., 1859, until it 
was burned in October, 1867. The 
present brick building was subse- 
quently built on its site. Mr. Cameron 
continued the grocery business with 
success until compelled to retire in 
the summer of 1891 on account of ill 
health. He died March 17, 1896. Mr. 
Cameron married Julia E. Merchant, a 
sister of his brother, Robert's wife. 
She was born 27 Feb., 1819, and died 
6 Oct., 1889, at Owego. Their children 
were as follows: 

1. Larue J. Cameron, born 2 Nov., 
1843. Died 1 Nov., 1894, at Owego. 

2. DelRey A. Cameron, born 7 May, 
1848, at Owego. Married Bessie Ryan 
24 Aug., 1871. 

3. Leila Inez Cameron, born 29 
Nov., 1858, at Owego. Married first 
Charles J. G. Lapersonne and second 
James E. Webster. She died 28 Aug.. 
1906, at Owego. 

COL. HENRY McCORMICK. 
Col. Henry McCormick, who came 
to Owego to live in 1814 was a grand- 
son of Joseph McCormick, who lived 
and died near the Giant's Causeway in 
Ireland. Joseph McCormick's widow, 
a Scotch woman named McDowell, 
came to America in 1760. Col. Henry 
McCormick's father, Henry McCor 
mick, came to America as a lieutenant 
in the British army at the beginning 
of the revolution. He was captured 
by the Americans and held as a pris- 
oner of war. Learning that his brother 
was serving in Washington's army, he 
found him, enlisted with him, and hav- 



ing received an officer's coiiimissloii 
he fought valiantly with the conti- 
nental army against King George and 
his former comrades in arms until 
the colonies were made free. He was 
taken a prisoner at the storming of 
Quebec, but made a most desperate 
and daring escape. Soon after the 
close of the war he settled at Painted 
Post, N. Y., where he became an ex- 
tensive land owner and was elected 
to various important offices. 

Col. Henry McCormick was one of 
four brothers, all of whom served as 
officers in the war of 1812. He was 
born in the town of Painted Post, 
Steuben (then Ontario) county. N. Y.. 
March 5, 1791. In 1808 he came to 
Newtown (now Elmira) where in 1812 
he volunteered as a soldier in the war 
with Great Britain and did gallant ser- 
vice on the Niagara frontier. He 
crossed the Niagara river in command 
of a transport scow several times 
just before the disastrous battle of 
Queenstown, the grape shot from the 
British cannon on the heights strik- 
ing almost as thick as hailstones in 
and around his scow so long as it was 
compelled to be within the range. 

It is related of Col. McCormick that 
he killed an Indian chief, who was 
shooting the colonel's men from his 
hiding place behind a fallen tree. The 
chief was very brave and refused to 
surender. Col. McCormick took the 
chief's leather pouch, in which he car- 
ried his bullets and flints, as a trophy, 
and many years afterward presented 
it to a nephew at Ithaca. 

In 1814, at the close of the war. Col. 
McCormick came to Owego to live. 
His brother, Jacob Miller McCormick, 
came with him, and they began busi- 



278 
iiess here as gunsmiths. Their shop 
was on the south side of Main street 
where the rectory of St. Paul's Epis- 
copal church now is. There they 
made guns, the barrels of which they 
bored and finished at Matson's mills 
in Canawana. 

Col. McCormick lived in a house 
which stood on the north side of Main 
street, about where Mrs. Asa N. Pot- 
ter's house now is. The house was 
several years afterward removed to 
the northwest corner of Liberty and 
Temple streets. About the year 1837 
Col. McCormick sold the business to 
Jehiel Ogden, who had learned the 
gunsmith's trade in his shop. 

The guns manufactured here before 
1834 were flint lock guns. After he 
began making rifles with "half-stocks" 
Col. McCormick employed laborers, 
who dug out the stumps of black wal- 
nut trees, which had been felled years 
ago on the flat north of the present 
Tioga county fair grounds. From 
these stumps were made the half- 
stock, a new style of gun of that time. 
The roots that branched out from the 
base of the trees in the ground 
formed a natural bend, suited to the 
form of the breech part of the gun, 
without cutting across the grains of 
wood to form a crook, which would 
have rendered the breech very liable 
to break. 

Jacob M. McCormick removed to 
Ithaca. Col. Henry McCormick pur- 
chased a farm on the south side of the 
river on the hill overlooking Owego 
village. He lived the rest of his life 
in a small house which still stands 
there and which was occupied for sev- 
eral years after his death by his 
daughter, Mrs. Belinda Shaw. Col. 



McCormick died May 22, 1S74, at the 
home of his daughter, Mrs. Edward 
Livermore, at St. Peter, Minn., where 
he had spent the winter. 

Col. McCormick was sheriff of Tioga 
county from 1828 to 1831. He was 
also a member of the board of trustees 
of Owego village in 1832 and 1833. He 
served in the state militia, having 
been commissioned captain of a com- 
pany in the Sixteenth regiment of ar- 
tillery. 

.Jacob Miller McCormick was born 
at Big Flats, Chemung county, in 1793. 
He enlisted and served in the war of 
1812, leaving the army at the close of 
the war with a major's commission. 
At Ithaca he became a man of promi- 
nence. He owned oil, grist, and plas- 
ter mills, large farms, a foundry, a 
hardware store, and much merchan- 
dise. He owned the Ithaca hotel. He 
owned and conducted a stage route be- 
tween Owego and Ithaca. He was post- 
master many years. He was a vil- 
lage trustee from 1836 to 1840, and 
president of Ithaca village in 1840. 
He was the first chief engineer of the 
Ithaca fire department, in 1838. He 
died Sept. G, 1855, at ithaca, aged 62 
years. 

While living in Owego, in 1821, he 
was appointed captain of a company 
of riflemen in the 53d regiment of 
state infantry. His wife was Cath- 
erine Conrad, of Lansing, N. Y., who 
was called the "Lady of the Lake" on 
account of her personal beauty and 
social graces. 

One of Col. Henry and Jacob M. Mc- 
Cormick's brothers was Major Joseph 
McCormick, who was born April 18, 
1787, in the town of Wyoming, Pa. 
Two years later the family removed to 



280 

Painted Post. In March, 1806, he mar- 
ried Mary Hatfield, of Newtown. In 
1812 he enlisted in the government 
service as a captain of infantry. He 
fought in the battles at Tippecanoe, 
Queenstown Heights, Lundy'sLane,and 
at the blowing up of FortErie.and was 
promoted to major. He resigned his 
commission in the army hi 1816 and 
engaged in the lumber and mercantile 
business at Lawrenceville, Pa. In 
1829 he removed to Louisville, Ky., 
and thence in 1832 to Covington, Ind., 
where he engaged in farming. Later 
lie became commander and owner of 
the steamer "Detroit," plying between 
Louisville and St. Louis and the south- 
ern Mississippi ports. He was after- 
ward elected a member of the Indiana 
legislature, and in 1840, 1841, and 1842 
he was re-elected. He subsequently 
lived at Rob Roy, 111., Manitowoc, 
Wis., and Forestville, and Ahnapee, 
Wis. In 1870, when 84 years of age, 
he was elected to the Wisconsin legis- 
lature and enjoyed the distinction of 
being the oldest person occupying a 
seat in that body. He died at Alma- 
pee Aug., 26, 1875, aged 88 years. 

Col. Henry and Elizabeth McCor- 
mick were the parents of two daugh- 
ters. The eldest, Belinda McCormick, 
was born at Owego May 2, 1822. She 
was married to William James Shaw, 
of Ithaca, Oct. 29, 1844. He went to 
California hi 1849 and never returned 
to Owego. He died at San Francisco 
a few years ago. Mrs. Shaw's father 
and .lohn Arnot, of Elmira, were both 
of Scotch descent and strong friends. 
After Mr. Arnot's death Mrs. Shaw- 
went to Elmira and lived with Mrs. 
Arnot until her death and after that 
she remained in the Arnot home with 



281 
the family of Mr. Arnot's son, Matthew 
H. Arnot, and where she died Jan. 4, 
189^1. 

Col. McCormick's younger daughter, 
Mary Steward McCormick. was born 
Feb. 13, 1828, at Owego. She was the 
second wife of Rev. Edward Liver- 
more, to whom she was married Oct. 
2G, ISjjIJ. He was twenty-three years 
rector of the Church of the Holy Com- 
munion at St. Peter's, Minn., and later 
chaplain of Kemper Hall at Kenosha, 
Wis., where he died May 28, 1866. She 
died Feb. 16, 1906, at Phoenixville, Pa. 

GURDON HEWITT. 

One of the most successful business 
men that ever lived at Owego was 
Gurdon Hewitt, who was a resident of 
the village 48 years. He was born 
near New London, Conn., May 5, 1790. 
When he w-as six years old his parents 
removed to a farm, near the village of 
Oxford, Chenango county, N. Y. His 
early life was spent on the farm, and 
he received his early education at the 
Oxford academy. His father having 
been ruined financially through en- 
dorsing some notes for a friend, Gur- 
don Hewitt when less than 21 years of 
age went to New York city in search 
of a clerkship, without funds and with 
no acquaintances in the city. 

It is related that in making the trip 
he arranged with a man who was go- 
ing to Newburgh on horseback to go 
on the "ride and tie" plan. By this ar- 
rangement the owner of the horse 
would ride a few miles ahead and 
then hitch his horse at the roadside 
and proceed thence on foot. Mr. 
Hewitt would walk until he reached 
the place where the horse was tied, 
unhitch the animal, and ride for sev- 



282 

eral miles past where he overtook his 
companion. Then dismounting he 
would proceed on foot while the 
owner of the horse would ride ahead 
in his turn. Thus they proceeded to 
Newburgh, whence Mr. Hewitt made 
the rest of his journey by boat to New 
York. 

Mr. Hewitt obtained a clerkship in 
a store, where he remained about a 
year and then entered the employ of 
a celebrated bridge builder named 
Burr as a bookkeeper. Mr. Burr was 
then constructing a bridge over the 
Susquehanna river, near Northumber- 
land, Pa., and Mr. Hewitt went there 
as his assistant. When this bridge 
was completed, in 1819, he left Mr. 
Burr's employ and went to Towanda, 
Pa., where he began a general mer- 
cantile business, in which he was 
very successful. He also engaged in 
lumbering at Monroe. He built a 
store and a I'esidence at Towanda. 
While living at Towanda he was 
treasurer of Bradford county from 
1S21 to 1822. He married a daughter 
of Williams Means, of Towanda. She 
died, leaving no children. May 17, 
1S21, he married Charlotte Piatt, 
daughter of Major .lonathan Piatt, of 
Nichols, N. Y. 

In the spring of 1823 he removed to 
Owego and lived here all the rest of 
his life. He formed a partnership 
with his wife's brother, Jonathan 
Piatt in the general mercantile busi- 
nrss. Their store was in a wooden 
building, which stood on the bank of 
the river a little above where the 
bridge is now. Their partnershij) 
lasted about a year, when Mr. Piatt 
formed a partnership with David Tur- 
ner and Mr. Hewitt continued the 



283 
business alone initil 1837. That year 
he and John M. Greenleaf formed a 
partnership in the same business. 
Their store was on the east side of 
Lake street. The firm of Greenleaf & 
Hewitt existed until their store was 
burned in the great lire of September. 
1849. 

Mr. Hewitt did not resume the mer- 
cantile business, but devoted his en- 
tire attention to banking, in which he 
was remarkably successful, laying the 
foundation for the largest fortune 
ever accumulated in Owego. He was 
the first president of the old bank of 
Owego. now the First national bank, 
and was for several years its cashier. 
He was one of the trustees of the old 
Owego academy from its foundation, 
and most of the time president of the 
board. The only elective office he 
held was that of village trustee in 
1830 and 1831. 

Wm. F. Warner says of Mr. Hewitt: 
"He had an intellect of remarkable 
power, which had it been directed to 
scientific or professional pursuits, 
would have placed him among the 
first in the land." 

In February, 1833, Mr. Hewitt pur- 
chased of Jonathan Piatt a lot on the 
north side of Main street nearly op- 
posite the Baptist church and built a 
house thereon. The house still re- 
mains there and is the second house 
from the Church street corner. Mr. 
Hewitt lived there until 1856 when he 
l)urchased the property at the north- 
east corner of Front and Church 
streets, where he lived until his death. 
He died Dec. 24, 1871, and his wife 
Jan. 16, 1876. 

The children of Gurdon and Char- 
lotte (Piatt) Hewitt were Gurdon 



284 

Hewitt, Jr.; Sarah Hewitt, who mar- 
ried Frederick H. Pumpelly, of Owe- 
go; Charlotte Hewitt, who married 
Stephen T. Arnot, of Elmira, and still 
lives in that city, and Frederick C. 
Hewitt, who still lives in this village. 

Gurdon Hewitt, Jr., was born March 
29, 1826, at Owego. He was educated 
as a lawyer and admitted to the bar of 
Tioga county in 1847, but never prac- 
tised law. He entered the store of his 
father and was associated in his busi- 
ness affairs during the rest of his 
father's life. In 1852 he and Lyman 
Truman, as equal partners, made 
large investments in lands situated 
near Dixon, 111. They purchased 
many acres of land at a low price, 
realizing a great profit on their invest- 
ment. The partnership continued un- 
til 1857. During the civil war Mr. 
Hewitt lived in New York city. 
Through his management of his 
father's estate it was greatly increased 
and at the time of his death it was 
the largest estate ever accumulated 
in Owego. 

Mr. Hewitt married Mrs. Frances 
Augusta Gillett, widow of Col. Daniel 
W. Gillett, of Elmira, in 1881. He 
died Sept. 10, 1900, at Atlantic City. 
N. J., and she Feb. 7, 1906, at Lake- 
land, Fla. 

JOHN M. GREENLEAF. 

John M. Greenleaf came to Owego 
in 1826 and lived here until his death 
fifty-five years later. 

The Greenleafs in America are de- 
scended from Edmund Greenleaf. who 
was born in 1573 and who died In 
Boston, Mass. One of his sons. 
Stephen Greenleaf (born about 1628) 
had a son, also named Stephen Green- 
leaf, born at Newbury, Mass., in 1652. 



285 
Stephen's son, Rev. Daniel Greenleaf. 
was born at Newbury in ir>7!i and 
died in 1763 in Boston. His son. Dr. 
Daniel Greenleaf, was born at Cam- 
bridge, Mass., in 1702 and died in 
1795. Dr. Greenleaf's son. Gen. William 
Greenleaf,was the grandfather of .John 
M. Greenleaf and was born in 17o8. He 
died at Lancaster, Mass., 1793. He 
was several years sheriff of Worces- 
ter comity and a brigadier-general in 
the state militia. 

One of Gen. Greenleaf's sons was 
.John Hancock Greenleaf. who was 
born April 30, 1775, at Lancaster, 
Mass. He was a cabinet maker and 
house joiner in Boston. He removed 
to Granville, N. Y.. where he married 
Mary Norton Feb. 1, ISOl. In March. 
1817, he came with his family to this 
county and settled first at Smithboro. 
Four years afterward he removed to 
Padlock in the town of Richford. In 
the fall of 1S26 he removed to Owego 
and died here Jan. 28, 1852. His wife 
also died here Sept. 28, 1860. 

The children of John Hancock and 
Mary (Norton) Greenleaf were as fol- 
lows: 

1. Betsy Gardiner Greenleaf, born 
about 1803 and died in infancy. 

2. John Matthew Greenleaf born 
19 May, 1806, at Granville, N. Y. Mar- 
ried Lucv Talcott, daughter of Elizur 
Talcott, Jr., of Owego, 20 June. 1837. 
She was born 24 March, 1809. and died 
at Owego 4 July, 1842. He married 
second Emeline Wilbur, daughter of 
Ismond Wilbur, 27 Sept.. 1843. She 
died 3 Dec. 1907. at Owego. 

3. Martha Norton Greenleaf. born 
17 April. 1809. at Granville. Married 
William Gordon, who died about 1843. 
She died 15 Oct., 1890. 

4. Betsy Gardiner Greenleaf. born 
25 Sept., 1811. at Granville. Married 
George W. Allen, who died about 1853. 

5. William Josephus Greenleaf. 



286 

born 25 Sept., 1815, at Granville. Mar- 
ried Mary L. Ford 2 Dec, 1817. He 
died 22 March, 1869. 

6. Amos Canfield Greenleaf, born 8 
March, 1818. at Smithboro. Married 
Mary Dougherty 22 Oct., 1840. He 
was associated with dry goods firms 
in New York city several years and 
died 1 Aug., 1894, at South Orange, 
N. J. 

John M. Greenleaf was 20 years of 
age when his father, John Hopkins 
Greenleaf, removed to Owego. In the 
fall of 1826 he entered Col. Amos 
Martin's store as a clerk. He re- 
mained with Col. Martin three years 
and then became a clerk in Gurdon 
Hewitt's store. After six years of 
service with Mr. Hewitt he became a 
partner, in 1833, of Lyman Truman in 
the general mercantile business. 
Their store was in a brick building 
which occupied the ground on the 
east side of Lake street where the 
Owego national bank building now 
stands. This partnership was dis- 
solved in July, 1836. In 1837 he 
formed a partnership with his for- 
mer employer, Gurdon Hewitt, and 
the firm of Greenleaf & Hewitt ex- 
isted twelve years. Their store was 
on the south side of Front street, the 
third store east of Lake street. This 
store was burned Sept. 25, 1849, in 
the big fire. The firm did not re- 
sume business. Mr. Greenleaf having 
been very successful as a merchant, 
retired from all active business. He 
died Aug. 23, 1881, at Owego. 

The only son of John M. and Mary 
(Norton) Greenleaf is Dr. John T. 
Greenleaf, who has been since 1867 a 
Homoepathic physician and still lives 
in this village. 



287 

COL. AMOS MARTIN. 

Col. Amos Martin, one of the early 

merchants of Owego, was born Feb. 8, 

1785, at Salisbury. Mass. He was a 

son of Noah and Hannah Martin. In 

1814 he removed from New Marlboro, 

Mass., with his wife (nee Amanda 

Hart) and two daughters, Malinda an<l 

Angeline.and a large load of household 

goods to Tioga county and settled at 

Candor, where he began a generrl 

- mercantile business. 

In 1816 the family removed to Ow>f 
go. He moved into a house which 
stood on the west side of Park street, 
where Robert Handler's residence 
now stands. The front of this house 
he occupied as a store. This was the 
same building that had been previ 
ously occupied as a store by Williara 
Pumpelly. 

In 1819 Col. Martin leased the old 
•Goodman Coffee House," a tavern 
owned bv Gen. John Laning and later 
known as the Franklin house, which 
stood on the north side of Front 
street, a little east of Court street. In 
addition to conducting the affairs of 
the hotel Col. Martin continued the 
mercantile business in the west end of 
the building, which had been occupied 
as a store by Jonathan Piatt. Lewis 
Manning succeeded Col. Martm as 
landlord of the coffee house in 1823, 
but Col. Martin continued to occupy 
the west end of the building as a 
store. 

In the spring of 1827 Col. Martin 
removed his store into a two-story 
wooden building, which stood at the 
northwest corner of Front and Lake 
streets. This building had been oc- 
cupied by J. Fay & Co. In 1833 he re- 
moved to the south side of Front 



2S8 
street, oi)i)osite Lake street, where he 
continued in the mercantile business 
until his death, which was caused by 
hasty consumption. He died May 14, 
1835. His wife survived him ijiany 
years, dying April 11, 1878, . at the 
home of her daughter, Mrs. W. C. 
Taylor, at Tioga Centre at the ad- 
vanced age of 89 years. She was born 
at New Marlboro, Mass., Dec. 28, 1788, 
and was married in 1807. 

Col. Martin in 1827 built the old 
Academy building in Court street by 
contract. He was a member of the 
first board of trustees of the academy. 
He built and lived many years in a 
house which stood on the west side of 
Park street south of the Congrega- 
tional church, on the ground on which 
L. B. Terbush's brick house now 
stands, and which house was buruied 
Dec. 3, 1877, when the first Congrega- 
tional church was burned. 

The children of Col. Amos and 
Amanda (Hart) Martin were as fol- 
lows: 

1. Malinda Martin, born 27 Jan., 

1811, at New Marlboro, Mass. Mar- 
ried Harvey Coryell, of Nichols, in 
1830. He died 3 Oct., 1864, at Nichols, 
and she in .July, 1888. 

2. Angeline Martin, born 13 Sept., 

1812, at New Marlboro. Married Col. 
William Ransom, of Tioga Centre, 14 
Sept., 1831. He died 7 Feb., 1883, at 
Tioga Centre, and she 11 Feb., 1883. 

3. Maria A. Martin, born 7 Feb., 

1815. at Candor. Married Col. William 
C. Taylor, of Owego. 9 Sept., 1836. 
He died 9 April. 1892. in Brooklyn, N. 
Y., and she 16 .Jan., 1905. 

4. Jay H. Martin, born 14 Dec, 

1816, at Owego. Married Frances 
Johnson in 1835. Removed to Tioga 
Centre, where he still lives. 

5. John S. Martin born 18 Sept., 
1818, at Owego. Married first Harriet 
Manning and second Ada Chambers. 



2S9 

He died 16 Oct., 1904. at Kansas City, 
Mo. 

6. Elizabetli L. Martin , born 7 
Sept., 1S27, at Owego. Married Ronieo 
Woodford, of Owego. 6 Aug., 1846. 
She died in 1850 at Owego. He mar- 
ried second Augusta E. Sackett, 
daughter of Capt. Richard H. Sackett, 
of Candor. He died 8 July, 1856. at 
Owego. 

Col. William C. Taylor was born 
.June 12, 1813. at Florida, Orange 
county, N. Y. He came to Owego in 
1833 and entered Dr. Jedediah Fay's 
drug store as a clerk. In October. 
1836, his brother, Daniel G. Taylor, 
came to Owego and the brothers, in 
company with William H. Bell, began 
a general mercantile business under 
the firm name of Taylors & Bell in a 
store which stood on the south side of 
Front street, east of Lake street. The 
Taylors purchased Mr. Bell's interest 
in the store two years afterward. A 
year later Col. Taylor sold his interest 
in the business to Mr. Bell. 

In 1843 Col. Taylor went to Pier- 
mont. N. Y.. which was then the east- 
ern terminus of the New York & Erie 
railroad, where he w-as the station 
agent until the completion of the road 
to Dunkirk. Then he went to Dunkirk 
as superintendent of the western di 
vision of the road. A few years later 
he removed to Jersey City, where he 
was the company's agent until 1861. 

When the civil war broke out. D. C. 
xMcCallum, who had been general su- 
perintendent of the road, was ap 
pointed military superintendent of the 
railroads of the United States, with 
the rank of general. He appointed 
Mr. Taylor to take charge under him 
of all the military railroads, to attend 
to their construction, repair, etc., with 
the rank of colonel. He served all 



290 

through the war and then went to E!- 
luira, where he remahied until 1869, 
when he removed to Brooklyn, where 
he lived with his daughter, Mrs 
Alexander Robb, until his death. 

John S. Martin was for many years 
a salesman in Storrs, Chatfield & 
Co.'s hardware store. In 1869 he re- 
moved to Kansas City, Mo., where he 
lived all the rest of his life. He was 
for many years and until about twelve 
years before his death a travelling 
salesman, selling agricultural machin- 
ery and implements. There were few 
railroads in the west when he went 
there, and he did most of his travel- 
ling with a horse and buggy. 

EDWARD S. MADAN. 

Edward Shearson Madan was a car- 
l)enter and builder, who was born 
Sept. 20. 178.5, at Sing Sing, N. Y., and 
who came to Owego in 1824. 

His father, Thomas D. Madan (or 
de Madan. as the name was originally 
written), was of French descent, lived 
in Virginia, and fought in the revolu- 
tionary war. He was born in 1762 
and died Dec. 30, 1804. His wife was 
Charity Odell, daughter of Abraham 
Odell. She was drowned Nov. 30, 
1805, together with her daughter, 
Eliza, while on their passage from 
Newburgh to New York city. She was 
born Feb. 13, 1756. 

Edward S. Madan and his four 
brothers and a brother-in-law all 
served in the war of 1812. When E. 
S. Madan was a child his parents re- 
moved, to New York city, where he 
later learned the trade of a cabinet 
maker. At the age of 22 he went to 
Florida, Orange county, N. Y., where 
Sept. 20, 1810. he married Lydia 



291 
Curry, daughter of Beiijaniiii Curry. 
In 1822 they removed to Newark Val- 
ley, where they lived until 1824, when 
they came to Owego, where they lived 
the rest of their lives. Mr. Madan 
died Oct. 11, 1868. His wife was born 
Feb. 15. 1790, in New York city, and 
died at Owego May 17, 1842. 

Mr. Madan was thrice married. 
His second wife was Lucy Allen, who 
was born in May, 17S8, at New Haven. 
Conn. They were married May 5. 
1844. She died March 20, 1856, at 
Owego. 

His third wife was Mrs. Elizabeth 
Terry, of the town of Candor. She 
died in that town three or four years 
after Mr. Madan's death. 

The children of Edward S. and 
J.ydia (Curry) IMadan were as fol- 
lows: 

1. Anna Eliza Madan, born 6 Jan., 
1812, at Florida, N. Y. Married Gil- 
bert Williams 26 Feb., 1834. She died 
13 Nov., 1877, at Warner, Onondaga 
county, N. Y. 

2. Sarah .Jane Madan, born 9 May. 
1S14, at Florida, N. Y. Married Hiram 
G. Williams 13 Aug., 1843. She died at 
Susquehanna, Pa., in December, 1883^ 

3. Mary Louisa Madan, born 27 
Feb., 1816", at Florida, N. Y. She died 
13 Nov., 1838, at Owego. 

4 Harriet Emilv Madan, born 2 
Sept., 1819, at Florida, N. Y. Married 
first James Hill 4 April, 1839. He died 
5 Jan., 1887, at Owego. She married 
second Nehemiah E. Neal, of Nichols. 
She died 9 June, 1906, at Owego. 

5. Caroline Amelia Madan, born 
29 Oct., 1821, at Westtown, Orange 
county, N. Y. Married Henry J. 
Hodge in 1848. She died in June, 
1899, at Susquehanna, Pa. 

6 Andrew Jackson Madan, born 
15 April, 1824, at Newark Valley. 
Married first Phoebe Sears 24 April, 
1857. He married second Mv«. George 
A. Dodd (nee Sarah Searles) 16 Jan., 



292 

1887. He died 3 Dec. 1895, at Owego. 
and she 23 June, 1908. 

7. Frances Melinda Madan, born 
30 April, 1827, at Owego. She lives at 
Warner, N. Y. 

8. Benjamin Curry Madan, born 24 
April, 1829, at Owego. Married Jennie 
Nixon, of Owego. He died 21 Dec, 
1871. at Owego. 

Mr. Madan was a member of a long 
lived family. His grandmother, Per- 
silla (Priscilla?) Odell, was in her 
120th year at the time of her death in 
1788. Mr. Madan was active in the 
temi)erance cause and an enthusiast 
in masonic affairs. He was the first 
master of Friendship lodge, F. & A. 
M., in 1849 and 1850 when the lodge 
reorganized and resumed work after 
its discontinuance by reason of the 
Morgan excitement. He was tiler of 
the lodge from 1856 to 1864, inclusive. 
He was also the first high priest of 
New Jerusalem chapter. Royal Arch 
Masons upon its institution in 1852 
and 1853. He is said to have filled all 
the offices in both the "blue lodge" 
and the chapter. 

Mr. Madan lived many years in a 
small house, which is still standing 
on the east side of Central avenue, 
the first house south of the brick 
building at the Temple street corner. 
This street was at that time a narrow 
lane through which the tracks of the 
old Ithaca and Owego horse railroad 
extended down through the village 
park into and up Front street to 
Church street. 



293 
DR. JOEL S. PAIGE. 
One of the most highly esteemed of 
Owe go's early residents was Dr. Joel 
Sin:onds Paige, who lived here thirty- 
four years. He was fifth in descent 
from Nathaniel Paige, who came to 
Roxbury, Mass., from England in IGS.' 
with his wife and three children. Dr. 
Paige's father was Moses Paige, a far- 
mer, at Hardwick, Mass.. where Dr. 
Paige was born Jan. 2.^. 17!>o. 

Dr. Paige was educated as a physi- 
cian at Troy, X. Y., receiving his 
diploma in June, 1S16. July 1 of the 
same year he married Jane S. Fair- 
child, of that city, and very soon af- 
terward they came to Owego. They 
lived in a small house, which was on 
the north side of Front street, the 
second house west of Paige street 
w^here A. C. Burt's house now stands. 
Later he built and lived in the house 
now owned by Frederick O. Cable at 
the northeast corner of Main and 
Paige streets. • 

All of Paige street from Main street 
north to Fox street, its northern limit 
then, was called Paige street in honor 
of Dr. Paige. All of the same street 
from Main street south to the river 
was called Leonard str3et, in honor of 
Stephen B. Leonard, who lived at the 
northeast corner of that street and 
Front street. Some time after ISoT 
the name of Leonard street was no 
longer used and the entire street has 
since been known as Paige street. 
That part of the village in which Dr. 
Paige lived was at the time of his 
residence there commonly known as 
"Paigeville." 

In 1819 Dr. Paige was appointed as- 
sistant hospital surgeon of the 41st 



294 
brigade of state infantry, wliich was 
commanded by brigadier-general John 
J.aning, of Owego. In 1825 he held 
the office of clerk of the town of Owe- 
go. He was a member of the village 
board of trustees In 1828 and in 1839, 
and in 1839 he was also president of 
the village. He was a prominent 
member of the masonic fraternity. 
He was master of Friendship lodge, 
F. and A. M., from 1824 to 1827, in- 
clusive and was master when it tem- 
porarily suspended its meetings at the 
time of what is known as the Morgan 
excitement. 

Dr. Paige's first wife died Dec. 24, 
1830, at Owego. His second wife was 
Ann Eliza I>imbrick. She was born in 
1811 at Catskill and while visiting her 
brother at Owego she met Dr. Paige, 
to whom she was married June IS, 
1833. At this time Dr. Paige owned 
and lived in the house at the Main 
and Paige street corner. 

In 1850 Dr. Paige removed to Alex- 
ander, Genesee county, N. Y., where 
he died July 10, 1855. His wife also 
died there Oct. 17, 1889. 

The children of Dr. Joel S. and Jane 
S. (Fairchild) Paige were as follows: 

1. Margaretta Augustina -Paige, 
born 15 Sept., 1818. Married Ham- 
mon D. Pinney at Owego 26 May, 1840. 
She died 12 Jan., 1860 at Owego. 

2. Anson Fairchild Paige, born 31 
May, 1822, at Owego. 

Hammon D. Pinney was born June 
2, 1814, at Clarksville, Albany county, 
N. Y., and at 14 years of age went to 
Albany to work as clerk in a dry 
goods store. He came to Owego in 
June, 1835, with his father, Joshua L. 
Pinney, and opened a drug store in 
judge Drake's wooden building, which 



295 

stood on the south side of Front 
street, ojiposite Lake street. In that 
building and the one which was built 
on its site after its destruction by fire 
in 1S49, J. 1.. Pinney & Sons conducted 
the drug and book store known as the 
"Owego Arcade" forty-one years. 
Patrick Henry Pinney, .1. 1^. Pinney"s 
youngest son, was a partner in the 
business until his death in August, 
18C5. H. D. Pinney was a leader in 
the movement for the abolition of 
slavery and a strong advocate of tem- 
perance. He was one of the thirty orig- 
inal organizers of the Baptist church 
in 18;il, was thirty years leader of th-^ 
church choir, and was also thirty 
years superintendent of the Sunday 
school. He was a member of the first 
board of school commissioners in 
1864, the only public ofRce he ever 
held. His second wife was Mr^. 
Eunice J. Harris, of New York city. 
He died Feb. 24, 1898, at Owego. 

Anson F. Paige was deaf and dumb. 
He was a bookbinder. His bindery 
was for several years in the third 
story of the brick buildings on th^^ 
northeast corner of Main street and 
North avenue, which were built by 
Franklin Slosson in 18.54 and known 
as Franklin block. 

The children of Dr. .Toel S. and Ann 
Eliza (Limbrickl Paige were as fol- 
lows: 

1. Thomas Limbrick Paige, born .".I 
March, 1834, at Owego. Married Alzoa 
N. Wilbur, daughter of Ismond Wil- 
bur, 4 June, 1862, at Owego. He died 
lU Dec, 1867, at Owego. 

2. l>ucy Bonner Paige, born 4 Oct., 
1840, at Owego. 

3. Lucy Aiken Paige, born 30 Aug., 
1842. at Owego. She was married to 
Elijah Ransom Page 10 Aug., 1804, at 
Alexander, N. Y. 



296 

4. Mary Paige, born 4 Feb., 1846, at 
Owego. She was married in 1863 to 
Norton Smith at Alexander. 

Thomas L. Paige learned the 
printer's trade in Owego, but aban- 
doned type-setting for a clerkship in 
Goodrich & Co.'s dry goods store. In 
May, 1864, he formed a partnership in 
the dry goods business with Abram 
H. Miller, buying the stock of Henry 
N. Hubbard and continuing the busi- 
ness in the store now occupied by E. 
E. Strait on the south side of Front 
street until his death in 1867. 

JARED HUNTINGTON. 

.Jared Huntington came to Owego 
from Hebron, Conn., in 1813, and lived 
here until his death, forty-eight year.s 
later. His father, Solomon Hunting- 
ton, was a saddler and a son of John 
Huntington, who was born Nov. 14, 
1700, at Norwich, Conn. Solomon 
Huntington was also born at Norwich 
August 6, 1738. He married Dimis 
Fuller. He lived at Hebron, where he 
died June 4, 1798. 

Jared Huntington was born at 
Hebron Dec. 22, 1784, and followed his 
father's occupation of a saddler and 
harness maker. His first wife was 
Ellvira Bliss, of Columbia, Conn. She 
was born in 1782 and died at East 
Haddam, Conn., in 1809. Four years 
after her death he removed to Owego, 
where he worked at his trade. In 
1818 he married Martha Draper, 
whose father was a blacksmith and 
whose dwelling house and blacksmith 
shop were at the northwest corner of 
North avenue and Main streets. 

Mr. Huntington lived for many 
years in a house which stood near the 
sidewalk on the west side of Lake 



297 

street on the ground now occupied by 
the two brick stores known as th^ 
Hooker block. His house was at th<^ 
north part of the lot and his harness 
shop adjoining at the south end of it. 
At the time of the great fireinSepteni 
Ijer. 1S49, all the buildings on th-» 
west side of Lake street were burned 
from Front street to the Huntington 
])roperty, where the progress of the 
fire was stopped. Another fire in 
October, 1870, burned all the wooden 
buildings from the Main street corner 
south, including the Huntington house 
and shop. The old well between the 
two buildings, which for many years 
furnished the water for several house- 
holds in the neighborhood, was in 
u.se, until the Hooker block was built. 

Mr. Huntington was clerk of the 
town of Owego from 1826 to 1834, in- 
clusive, and assessor from 1841 to 
1846, inclusive. He was for many 
years a justice of the peace. He was 
also superintendent of the poor of 
Tioga county from 1832 to 1837. H'^- 
died at Owego .Tuly 2, 1861. Mrs. 
Huntington, who was born in 1795, 
died April 11, 1877, at Cazenovia, N. 
Y., at the home of her daughter, Mrs. 
Phelps. 

The children of .Tared and Martha 
(Draper) Huntington were all born at 
Owego, with one exception, as fol- 
lows: 

1. Jared Bliss Huntington, born 
May 2, 1809. 

2. Elvira M. Huntington, born 10 
.Tuly, 18] 9. Married James M. Swift, 
son of Thomas Swift, of Falmouth, 
Mass. She died 27 Feb., 1854, i3i 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 

3. Adeline E. Huntington, born 4 
Sept., 1821. Married Frederick E. 
Piatt, of Owego, 4 Sept., 1821. She 
died 14 Jan., 1873. 



29S 

4. Emily Catherine Huntington, 
horn 9 Aug., 1S23, at Owego. Married 
Dr. Jared F. Phelps in 1842. 

."). Martha A. Huntington, bom 12 
Oct., 1825. Married Milton W. Han- 
chett, of Syracuse. N. Y., in 1848. 

6. William Silliman Huntington, 
born 14 Dec, 1827. 

7. Harriet Laura Huntington, born 
30 Jan., 1830. Married James M. 
Swift, who was the husband of her 
siser, Elvira M. Huntington. She died 
10 Sept., lyOl, at Cazenovia, N. Y. 

8. George Milnor Huntington, born 
8 August. 1832. Married Louise Den- 
ton, of Binghamton, 1 Oct., 1857. 

9. Charles T. Huntington, born 16 
Nov., 1834. He was a telegraph oper- 
ator. He died 11 May, 1899. 

Geo. M. Huntington learned tele- 
graphy in 1847. In 1853 he was di- 
vision operator and train dispatcher 
on the Susquehanna and Western 
divisions of the New York & Erie 
railroad until 1862, when he was 
called to Washington and appointed 
superintendent of military railroads 
under Gen. D. C. McCallum. At the 
M -SR3. Cyl bqx.clpdO klellrmpU 

close of the war he was in charge of 
all the captured roads leading into 
Richmond. These were turned over 
to their owners in 1865. In 1868 he 
was agent in New York city for the 
Great Southern mail route. In 1873 
he went to St. Paul, Minn., as general 
[)assenger and ticket agent of the 
West Wisconsin railroad. The next 
year he was ap])ointed general eastern 
agent of the Virginia Midland rail- 
road. 

ERASTTS MP:ACHAM. 

Erastus Meacham was a black- 
simth, a son of Silas Meacham, and 
was bom Feb. 9, 1798, at Cornwall, 
Conn. He was only seven years old 
when his parents removed to Bain- 



299 

bridse. N. Y. When fourteen years of 
age he was apprenticed to learn the 
blacksmith's trade and eight years 
later, in 1S20, he came to Owego, ma- 
king the entire journey on foot. He 
worked as a journeyman blacksmith 
for a short time, but in July, 1821, he 
formed a partnershii) in the black- 
smithing and wagon making business 
with Daniel Chamberlain, a wagon 
maker, who lived in the first house 
north of the Congregational church in 
Park street, which was afterward 
owned by John L. Matson and which 
still stands there. Mr. Chamberlain 
at one time conducted a bakery in the 
cellar of this house. His wagon shop 
was at the side of the house. It was 
in this wagon shop that the Baptist 
church of Owego was organized in 
1831. Mr. Chamberlain sold the prop- 
erty to Mrs. Henry H. Wells, of 
Wilkes-Barre, Pa., about the year 1830 
and removed to Choconut, Susque- 
hanna county. Pa., and died there. 

In October, 1823, Mr. Meacham pur- 
chased of James Caldwell two village 
lots on the west side of Lake street, 
north of and adjoining the ground on 
which the Owego national bank now 
stands and fronting 100 feet on the 
street. There he conducted a black- 
smith shop several years. In August, 
1838. he opened a general country 
store in John Carmichael's building, 
which stood on the north side of Front 
street and east of Lake street. He 
continued in business there several 
years, a part of the time in company 
with his son, Myron E. Meacham. 
Then he removed on the Ott farm on 
Germany hill in the town of Tioga, 
where he engaged in farming thirteen 
years. He afterward returned to 



300 

Owego. where he resumed work at his 
trade of a blacksmith, which he fol- 
lowed all the rest of his life. He died 
at Owego Jan. 25, 1890, at the ad- 
vanced age of nearly 92 years'. 

Nov. 9, 1820, Mr.'Meacham married 
Betsy Lake, daughter of Truman 
Lake, of Spencer. She died at Owego 
Aug. 29, 1892, aged 89 years. They 
were two of the forty original mem- 
bers of the Congregational cnurch of 
Owego. Their children were Myron 
E. Meacham, who removed to Hor- 
nell; Mary A. Meacham, who married 
Henry Shipman; Maria and Milton H. 
Meacham, both of whom died in in- 
fancy, and Melinda Meacham, who 
married John M. Head. 

JAMES ARCHIBALD. 

James Archibald, a tanner, came to 
Owego with his wife and six children 
from Caldwell, Warren county, N. Y., 
on Lake George. His father, Robert 
Archibald, came to America from 
Scotland and fought in the revolution- 
ary war. 

James Archibald was bom on the 
day of our national independence, 
July 4, 1776, in the town of Bolton. 
Warren county, N. Y.. and he arrived 
at Owego on Washington's birthday. 
Feb. 22, 1822. 

According to the state military 
records James Archibald was in 1804 
promoted to ensign in Simon DeRid- 
der's regiment of the brigade in the 
county of Washington, which county 
adjoins Warren county. The next 
year he was promoted to lieutenant, 
and in 1808 he was reported as 
"moved." 

The family settled on a farm owned 
by James Pumpelly on the south side 



30] 

of the river. In 1824 Mr. Pumpelly 
l)uilt a small tannery there. It stood 
on the south side of the road leading 
to Nichols, between that road and the 
river, and was a little west of where 
the Nichols road leaves the highway 
running from Owego to the Montrose 
turnpike. Mr. Pumpelly leased this 
tannery to Mr. Archibald. The water 
to run the tannery was supplied from 
a little run (dry now for many years), 
which came down from the hill to the 
river, a little east of the tannery. The 
[)Ower to grind the tanbark was sup- 
plied by a horse. Nearly all the vats 
were out in the field in the open air. 

In June, 1830. Elihu Parmenter, who 
conducted a tannery on the Hunting- 
ton creek, in the northern part of the 
village of Owego, and James Archi- 
bald purchased the exclusive right for 
a term of fourteen years for the use 
of a patent for handling hides and 
skins, which patent Samuel Rogers. 
Jr., of Philadelphia, had obtained in 
January, 1829. The purchase was 
made of James Brown, who owned the 
right to sell in Tioga and Tompkins 
counties. It provided for vats 31/2 
feet deep, SVz feet wide, and from 7 
to 8 feet long. This introduced new- 
methods of tanning here. 

This tannery was abandoned about 
theyear 1844. The building was moved 
five or six rods down the river and 
converted into a barn. Many years 
later it was used by Gurdon H. Pum- 
pelly as a part of a large tobacco 
shed, now standing there. 

In May, 1832, three of Mr. Arch- 
bald's sons, Alvah B., Almon W., and 
Samuel A. Archibald, purchased lots 
13 and 16 in Coxe's patent of John 
Redman Coxe, of Philadelphia. These 



302 

lots contained one hundred acres each 
and were on the side of the hill south 
of this village, . and the road which 
passes over the hill to the Montrose 
turnpike passes diagonally through 
them. The same month they also 
purchased lot No. 176, which is south 
of and adjoining the other two lots 
and contained 270 acres. This in- 
cluded the present farm of James For- 
syth and the small farm sold to Col. 
Henry McCormick in September, 1832. 

While engaged in tanning Mr. 
Archibald and these three sons 
cleared much of the woods from the 
farms. Their sawmill stood on the 
north side of the creek known as the 
Pumpelly creek and on the east side 
of the road. The ruins of the old mill 
stood there until a few years ago. 
They engaged extensively in lumber- 
ing and purchased and shipped a 
great amount of lumber down the 
river in addition to that produced 
from their own farm. 

The three sons were not only en- 
gaged in lumbering, but they also 
engaged in the tanning business, in 
the sale of boots and shoes, and in the 
manufacture of deer skin gloves and 
mittens. Alvah B. Archibald con- 
ducted a leather and shoe store on the 
south side of Front street, a little be- 
low Park street. He was elected a 
justice of the peace in January, 1862, 
but was prevented by ill health from 
assuming the duties of the office. He 
died in the following June. 

The second tannery built by the 
Archibalds was in 1838. It stood on 
the bank of the river just below the 
bridge. It was about 90 by 50 feet in 
size. It was burned in the fire of 
Jan. 31, 1860. It was replaced the 



303 

same year by a larger tannery, 114 by 
oO feet, with a brick engine house 50 
by 22 feet, and a bark house 22 by 36 
feet. It was composed of four build- 
ings, all attached. This tannery was 
twice burned, in January, 1860, and 
September, 1878. It was rebuilt on a 
smaller scale. In 1881, when the 
[>ackawanna railroad was built to 
Owego, the company bought and oc- 
cupied the ground on which the build- 
ings stood for its tracks. The tannery 
building was cut in two. Part of it 
was used as an ice house for a few- 
years and finally the whole was torn 
down. 

Almon W. Archibald retired from 
the lumbering business in 1852 and 
engaged in farming. He removed to 
this village six years previous to his 
death and lived tn west Front street. 
Samuel Archibald conducted the tan- 
nery for several years alone until he 
discontinued the tannery business al- 
together. 

Allen C. Archibald, the youngest 
son of James Archibald, was a civil 
engineer. He went south and lived at 
Louisville, Ky. At one time he was 
employed in the survey of the Panama 
canal. 

James Archibald followed farming 
all his life. He died Feb. 8. 1857, at 
Owego. His first wife was Mary Wil- 
son, of Bolton, who died in 1814. His 
second wife, Elizabeth Chase, was a 
Quakeress and was born in the colony 
of Rhode Island in 1774. She died 
May 31, 1860, at the home of her son, 
Allen C. Archibald, in Louisville, Ky. 

The children of James and Mary 
(Wilson) Archibald were as follows: 

1. Martha Archibald, born in the 
town of Bolton, Warren county, N. Y., 



304 

in 1S03. Married Samuel Babcock, of 
Owego. He died in 1839, and she in 
1851. 

2. Alvah Bosworth Archibald, boni 
in the town of Bolton in 1805. Mar- 
ried Jane McQuigg, daughter of 
Daniel McQuigg. Jr., of Spencer. She 
died in 1S56 and he June 8, 1862. 
Their only son, Frederick Archibald, 
was killed in the battle of Gettysburg 
in 1863. 

3. Almon Wilson Archibald, born 5 
;\ov., 1807, in the town of Bolton. 
Married Abagail Bates, of Owego, 3 
Aug., 1828. She died 8 Jan., 1862. He 
married second Valeria A. Babcock, of 
Windham, Pa., daughter of Benjamin 
Babcock. 30 April, 1864. She died U* 
July, 1896, and he 17 Feb., 1892, at 
Owego. 

4. Anson Samuel Archibald, born 
at Caldwell, N. Y., 11 June, 1810. 
Married Adaline Ma:-on. daughter of 
James Mason, of Kelloggsville, N. Y., 
22 Feb., 1828. She died 28 Jan.. 1887. 
and he 25 Nov., 1891. Both died at 
the old homestead. 

5. Maria Baldwin Archibald, born 
at Caldwell, X. Y., 27 June, 1812. Mar- 
ried Ralph Manning, of Berkshire, X. 
Y., 31 Jan.. 1849. He died 22 Sept.. 
1872, in Berkshire. She died in 1897. 
at the home of her daughter, Mrs. 
Mary l.abrec. at Big Foot. 111. Mr. 
Manning was the father of Gurdon G. 
.Manning, who was a dry goods mei-- 
chant in Owego. 

The only son of James and Eliza- 
beth (Chase) Archibald was Allan 
Chase Archibald, bom 15 Jan., 1818. 
at Caldwell, N. Y. He married Mary 
A. Pinney, daughter of Joshua L. 
Pinney, of Owego, in 1840. He 
died in 1862 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and 
she 29 Nov., 1892, at the home of her 
daughter. Mrs. Elizabeth A. Cline, in 
Wilmington, Del. 

When James Archibald came to Owe- 
go Richard Brown was conducting a 
small tannery, mention of which has 
been made in these articles. At that 



305 
time a man named Wicks was con- 
ducting the tannery on the Huntington 
creek, which tannery he subsequently 
sold to Elihu Parmenter. 

Samuel Archibald was a member of 
the board of village trustees in 185S, 
1859, 1868. and 1869. He was also a 
commissioner of highways of the town 
of Owego. He was a commissioned 
officer in the state militia, serving as 
lieutenant, captain, and major. 

Samuel Babcock, who married Mar- 
tha Archibald, was a blacksmith. He 
came to Owego from Bolton, N. Y., in 
1823. He lived on the west side of 
North avenue, south of Temple street. 
He owned three village lots. On one 
of them was a blacksmith shop, on an 
other a carriage shop, and between 
them was his dwelling house. Samuel 
and Martha (Archibald) Babcock had 
four sons, Edward, George W., David, 
and Alvah Babcock, and two daugh- 
ters, Elizabeth and Emily Babcock. 

Elizabeth Babcock was the first 
wife of Albert A. Baker, a son cf 
Lemuel Baker. He was a stone cutter 
and went south to work on a contract 
on the state capitol of Tennessee at 
Nashville, and died at Huntsville, 
Ala., July 25, 1901. He returned north 
just before the breaking out of the 
civil war and lived on a farm he had 
purchased two miles south of Newark 
Valley. From March, 1874, to Decem- 
ber, 1877, he was engaged in the dry 
goods business at Owego. He after 
ward returned to Alabama, where he 
engaged in the marble business. He 
was a brother of James R. Baker, who 
is still living at Owego. 

Emily Babcock married Mr. Elliott, 
of Alabama. Both the sisters died at 
Huntsville. 



306 

George W. Babcock now lives at 
Ithaca. He was for many years in the 
charge of the repair shops of the Erie 
railroad at Owego and later in charge 
of the repair department of the 
Geneva, Ithaca. & Sayre branch of the 
Lehigh Valley railroad. 

Alvah Babcock was a tinsmith. He 
went to Huntsville, Ala., a short time 
before the breaking out of the civil 
war and served in the Confederate 
army. He died at Huntsville in Octo- 
ber, 1865. Edward Babcock also died 
at Huntsville about three weeks after 
Alvah's death. 

CALDWELL ROW. 

Mention has been made in these 
|)apers of Caldwell Row. This was a 
block of wooden buildings one and 
one-half stories high and painted yel- 
low. It extended on the north side of 
Front street from Lake street to the 
present Ahwaga house block. The 
row was occupied as stores, shops, 
and dwellings. The owner, James 
Caldwell, who lived at Albany, was a 
wealthy tobacconist. He invested 
largely in lands in this part of the 
state. He acquired this property in 
.lanuary, 1797, by purchase from Win. 
Rhodes and .lohu McGregor, New 
York merchants. The purchase in- 
cluded seven Owego town lots con- 
taining about 1,108 acres and eight 
other lots in the village of Owego, for 
all of which he paid £800. 

Three of ti.e village lots comprised 
all the land on the north side of Main 
street including the M. E. church 
property and the lot on which the new 
graded school building now stands 
with all the land between them, in- 



3n7 

eluding the part through which Spen- 
cer avenue now extends. 

Another of these lots was the west 
one-half of the present square bound- 
ed by Lake, Main, Church, and Front 
streets, and included the land oppo- 
site on the south side of Front street 
to the bank of the Susquehanna river. 

Still another of these lots was at 
the northeast corner of Front and 
Church streets, now owned by F. C. 
Hewitt and extended back to Main 
street. All this property had been 
originally owned by James McMaster, 
who sold it to his brother, David Mc- 
Master, from whom it was purchased 
by Rhodes and McGregor. 

Among Caldweirs other investments 
in lands in southern New York was 
the purchase in July, 1804, for $4,000 
of nineteen village lots containing 1,936 
acres in what is now the business part 
of the city of Elmira. Mr. Caldwell 
never lived at Owego, but came here 
occasionally to look after his property. 
He died in 1831, aged about 70 years. 

The ground on which Caldwell 
Row stood became the property of 
Caldwell's daughter, Mrs. Stephen 
Sewell, of Montreal, who sold it in 
May, 1832, to James Ely, Jonathan 
Piatt, and George Bacon. This piece 
had a front of 128 feet on Lake street 
and 115 on Front street. It was 
divided by agreement, Ely taking the 
lot on which Ahwaga hall now stands, 
Piatt the lot now occupied by the Ti- 
oga national bank and the store ad- 
joining west of it, and Bacon the cor- 
ner lot on which the Partridge drug 
store stands. Mr. Bacon also received 
in the division the part on the east 
side of Lake street where the brick 



308 

front building now occupied by the 
Owego national bank stands. 

The lot between the Tioga national 
bank and the corner drug store in 
Front street was sold in September, 
1832, to James W. Taylor and Nelson 
B. Skeel, who erected thereon a three- 
story wooden building, which was so 
narrow and towered so high above all 
the others that it was commonly 
known as "the lighthouse" and "the 
shot tower." John Carmichael bought 
the bank lot, on which he built a 
three-story brick store in 1835. The 
"lighthouse" leaned on Mr. Car- 
michael's property so that he had to 
cut away the rafters to build his 
walls. Dr. Jedediah Fay bought the 
lot on which Ahwaga hall stands in 
1835 and built a three-story building 
thereon, with two stores, one of which 
he occupied as a drug store. 

Taylor & Skeel were tailors and 
occupied their building as a tailor's 
shop. Taylor removed to Ohio about 
the year 1840. Skeel came here from 
one of the eastern states and after re- 
maining here a few years went west, 
where he became captain of a Missis- 
sippi river steamboat and died while 
running a steamboat on that river. 

VINE KINGSLEY. 
Vine Klngsley, one of the earliest 
settlers at Owego, came in 1790. He 
married Esther Wright. At the first 
election for officers of the town of 
Owego on April 3, 1800, he was elected 
to three offices— overseer of the poor, 
poundmaster, and fence-viewer. The 
offices of overseer of the poor and 
fence-viewer he held by re-election 
four years. He was also appointed a 
justice of the peace. In 1805 he re- 



309 

moved to Scipio, N. Y., where he died 
hi 1811. aged 44 years. He had three 
.sons, .Tosiah Wright Kiiigsley, born in 
1796 at Owego, and Elias and Eliada 
Kingsley (twins), born about 180'>. 
The three brothers removed to Perry, 
Wyoming county, where .losiah W. 
died in 1885 and Eliada in 1856. 

ELIAS AND EBENEZER ALLEN. 

Elias Allen was an early settler 
here. He was a shoemaker, but did 
not work at his trade, but dug wells 
and built cellars. He lived on the 
east side of North avenue adjoining 
the Presbyterian church property. 

His son, Ebenezer Allen, was also a 
shoemaker. His shoe shop and resi- 
dence, a small building one and one- 
lialf stories high, was on the north side 
of .Main street at the North avenue cor- 
ner, then known as the Tinkham cor- 
ner. In 1823 his shop was on the 
south side of Front street, a little west 
of Church street. Later he purchased 
a lot near Leach's mills and built a 
house there, and there he died Jan. 
20, 1867, aged 73 years. 

Mr. Allen was an expert river pilot 
and made trips down the river with 
rafts and arks during the rafting sea- 
sons. He was many years bellringer 
and sexton of the Presbyterian 
church. He was also for many years 
and until his death crier of the courts 
of Tioga county. He was an expert 
fisherman and owned the eel rack 
which was in the Susquehanna river 
opposite the mouth of the Owego 
creek, which remained in use several 
years after his death. One of his 
daughters, Mary Ann Allen, was a 
nurse and matron at St. Lake's hos- 
pital in New York 32 years. She died 
in that city Dec. 20. 1904. aged 80 



310 

years. Another daughter, Frances 
Allen, became the wife of Watson L. 
Hoskins, of Owego. She died July 5, 
1905. at Owego, aged 74 years. A 
third, Miss Adeline Allen, lived at La- 
fayette, 111. 

GEN. ISAAC B. OGDEN. 

Gen. Isaac B. Ogden was a cabinet 
maker. He was born in New Jersey 
in 1805. His mother died when he 
was very young and he was reared by 
his grandmother, Mrs. Canfield, of 
Smithboro. He learned his trade of a 
cabinet maker at Owego. He after- 
ward went to New York city, where 
he spent several years, and upon his 
return here he formed a partnershij) 
in the cabinet making business with 
Dana & Kingsley. 

At that time all the furniture in use 
was made by hand, and the demand 
hereabouts was largely supplied by 
his firm. In 1834 Mr. Ogden pur- 
chased the interest of his partners in 
the business, and the next year he 
married Priscilla G. Goodman, daugh- 
ter of Phili]) Goodman, who was for 
several years landlord of various pub- 
lic houses at Owego and an early 
comer here. 

Mr. Ogden 's cabinet shop stood on 
the north side of Main street opposite 
where the new Owego hotel now 
stands. This cabinet shop was 
burned Aug. 5, 1841. The fire burned 
all the wooden buildings to the North 
avenue corner, and up North avenue 
to the old Tioga house, a hotel which 
stood about where Sitorer, Carlson & 
Berry's piano factory is now. This 
fire burned Gen. Ogden's dwelling 
house, which stood east of the cabi- 
net shop, together with James Conk- 



311 
lin's wagon shop, and Gad Worthing- 
ton's residence. 

The cabinet shop was immediately 
rebuilt on a larger scale. The new 
manufactory was a large two-story 
wooden building, painted red. which 
stood on the north side of Main street 
opposite where the new Owego hotel 
now stands. The factory was in the 
rear part. The front part, which was 
used as a salesroom, was so large 
that it was also used sometimes as a 
Ijlace for holding public meetings and 
for the performances of travelling 
theatrical companies, etc. 

There has of late been a craze in 
these parts for collecting old furni- 
ture, which after having been re- 
paired and revarnished by a more 
modern cabinet maker is made to do 
new service in the parlors and sitting 
rooms of our citizens. Much of this 
stuff, which its happy possessors rank 
with the masterpieces of Sheraton, 
Chippendale, and Heppelwhite, was 
turned out at Gen. Ogden's factories 
and was the workmanship of Gideon 
O. Chase, Abram B. Elston, Ossian E. 
Dodge (afterward the principal singer 
in his travelling concert company, 
known as "Ossian's Bards," which 
gave concerts throughout the coun- 
try), and many other good workmen 
of the time, whose names some of our 
"oldest inhabitants" still remember. 

This cabinet factory was also 
burned in the night of February 16, 
1854. This fire swept away all the 
wooden stores and houses to the 
North avenue comer. At the time of 
this fire the factory was occupied by 
J. L. Matson as a furniture store. 

After Gen. Ogden's house in Main 
street was burned he lived in a house 



312 
which still stands on the soutii side' 
of the Susquehanna river and is the 
seventh house east of the Court street 
bridge. 

Cen. Ogden was a public spirited 
man, and was greatly interested in 
the welfare and improvement of Owe- 
go. He was a member of the village 
board of trustees eleven years between 
the years 1831 and 1849 and was 
president of the village from 1S46 to 
1849, inclusive. He was active in or- 
ganizing the first hook and ladder 
company in 1835. He died at Owego 
April 14, 1868, aged 63 years. 

Gen. Ogden's eldest sou, Rev. 
Charles Ezra Ogden, was an Epis- 
copal clergyman and preached at Bel- 
lows Falls, Vermont. His daughter, 
Mrs. .Jennie Locey removed to i.a- 
Salle, 111. 

ROx\IEO WOODFORD. 

Romeo Woodford was one of the 
earliest merchants in the hardware 
and tinware trade at Owego. He 
came here from Candor in 1814. He 
was the father of Bissell and Romeo 
Woodford, who were engaged in the 
tame business several years. 

They were descendants of Bissell 
Woodford, of Farmington, Conn., a 
soldier of the revolution, four of 
whose sons removed to Tioga county 
in 1S04. Chauncey, the eldest son. 
and Ira Woodford settled at West 
Candor. Cyrus settled in east Spen- 
cer, where he died Nov. 6, 1878, aged 
SO years. Romeo lived at Candor until 
his removal to Owego. Chauncey 
Woodford was a farmer. Bissell 
Woodford, the father, came about the 
year 1825 from Farmington to Can- 
dor, where he died Sept. 3, 1835, aged 
81 years. 



313 

]ra and Romeo Woodford were tin- 
smiths. Romeo Woodfora carried on 
the business at Owego and Ira at 
West Candor. In. those days business 
was conducted on an extensive scale 
at many small country villages. At 
West. Candor Ira Woodford's manu- 
factory was a large one, and he sent 
l)eddlers out with wagons all over the 
country. The peddlers sold tinware 
and whiplashes, taking in exchange 
furs. 

Aftej- the death of Romeo Woodford 
at Owego, in 1819. his widow, Rhoda 
(Hulburt) Woodford, removed to 
West Candor with her two sons, Bis- 
sell and Romeo Woodford, Jr., where 
Bissell Woodford learned the tin- 
smith's trade in his uncle's shop. 

In the spring of 1838 Mrs. Woodford 
and her sons returned to this village, 
where Ira Woodford opened a branch 
of his West Candor manufactory in 
company with Bissell Woodford. 
Their shop was the first building be- 
low the bridge in Front street. Soon 
afterward the Owego business passed 
into the hands of the brothers, Bissell 
and Romeo Woodford. In July, 1839, 
they removed into the. brick store 
which had been occupied by L. Tru- 
man & Bros., in Lake street where the 
First national bank now stands. They 
increased the business rapidly, and 
carried the largest stock of any tin- 
ware establishment in this part of the 
country. At the time of the great fire 
of September, 1849, their store was 
burned. 

After the fire the brothers con- 
tracted with John R. Drake for the 
purchase of the Rollin block property 
at the northwest corner of Lake and 
Front streets. This lot extended 54 



314 

feet west on Front street to Dr. E. B. 
Phelps's property and 94 feet north 
on Lake street to l>orenzo Reeves's 
store. The brothers built thereon the 
four-story building that now stands 
there, and which they occupied as a 
hardware and tin store, ihe firm of 
R. Woodford & Co. conducted the 
store until May, 1855, when the 
brothers sold it to Storrs & Chatfield 
and retired from business. 

Ira Woodford, who was known as 
Captain Woodford, was in 1821 ap- 
pointed lieutenant of a company in 
the 199th regiment of infantry, which 
was organized that year from a part 
of the 95th regiment, and was later 
Ijromoted to captain. 

The elder Romeo Woodford's first 
wife was Mary Gridley, of Candor. 
His second wife was Rhoda Hulburt. 

Bissell Woodford, the eldest of the 
two sons of Romeo and Rhoda (Hul- 
burt) Woodford, was born 23 Oct., 
1816, at Owego. He married Mandana 
Fortner, daughter of Lewis Fortner, 
of Danby, 15 Oct., 1845. He died 19 
May, 1897, at Owego and she 29 
March, 1891. 

Romeo Woodford was born 3 Jan., 
1820, at Owego. He married Eliza- 
beth Martin, daughter of Col. Amos 
Martin, of Owego, 6 Aug., 1846. She 
died 30 Jan.. 1850. at Owego. He 
married second Augusta E. Sackett, 
daughter of Richard H. Sackett, of 
Catatonk. He died 8 July, 1856, at 
Owego. and she Dec, 1855. 

Bissell Woodford was a member of 
the board of trustees of the village of 
Owego in 1848. 1852, and 1857. 



315 

JOHN DODD. 

John Dodd was a carriage maker, 
born July 29, 1782. He lived at New 
Haven, Connecticut, and removed 
thence to Goshen, N. Y., in ISIO. He 
came to Owego in 1829 and lived here 
all the rest of his life. His carriage 
shop was on the west side of North 
avenue, and the house in which he 
lived was further up the same street, 
opposite Chestnut street. The house 
still stands there, but it was recon- 
structed after his death by elevating 
it and building a basement beneath 
it. 

Mr. Dodd lived an uneventful life 
here and died Sej)t. 3, 1854. He mar- 
ried Susan Potter, who was bom 
March 1, 1785. She survived him 
twenty years, and died here Dec. 17, 
1874. The children of John and Susau 
(Potter) Dodd were as follows: 

1. Hannah Dodd, born 24 Dec, 
1804. at New Haven, Conn. Died 8 
Jan., 1805. 

2. Maria Dodd, born 3 Feb., 1806, 
at New Haven. Died 16 March, 1861, 
at Owego. Unmarried. 

3. John S. Dodd, born 11 Sept.. 
1808, at New Haven. Married Lucy 
Hatch in 1831. He died 21 Feb., 1870, 
at Ithaca, N. Y. 

4. Caroline Dodd , born 20 Oct., 
1810, at New Haven. Died 30 Aug., 
1884, at Owego. Unmarried. 

5. Edward D. Dodd, born 11 Jan., 
1813, at Goshen, N. Y. Married Sarah 
A. Lacey, of Laceyville, Pa., 2 Feb., 
1840. He died 1 Sept., 1894, at El- 
mira, N. Y., and she 18 Jan., 1908, 
also at Elmira. 

6. Jane Dodd, born 20 Aug., 1815, 
at Goshen. Married Otis W. Liver- 
more, of Owego, 7 Nov., 1853. She 
died 17 Oct., 1900, in Athens town- 
ship. Pa., and he 21 March, 1895, at 
Owego. 

7. William Dodd,born 24 Sept,1818, 



316 

at Goshen. Died 26 July, 1839, at 
Owego. 

8. Thomas A. Dodd, born 2 March, 
1822, at Goshen. Married Harriet E. 
Freeman, of Goshen, 2 Oct., 1851. He 
died 18 Jan., 1900, at Owego, and she 
died at Elnilra. 

9. Louise L. Dodd, born 16 April, 
1825, at Goshen. Married Dr. Elias 
W. Seymour, of Owego, in Oct., 1850. 
He died 26 June, 1893, at Owego, and 
she 26 Feb., 1900. 

10. George A. Dodd, born 12 May. 
1827, at Gosheti. Married Sarah 
Searles, of Owego. 23 Nov., 1848. He 
died 14 Jan., 1864, at Owego, and she 
23 June, 1908. 

Edward D. Dodd was an iron 
moulder. He removed to Laceyville, 
Pa., in 1840, aod thence to Elmira. 

Thomas A. Dodd was from 1849 to 
1 867 a conductor on the New York & 
Erie railroad. 

Elias W. Seymour was born at 
Windsor, N. Y., Feb. 7, 1823. His 
father, judge William Seymour, was 
a prominent man in Broome county 
and was a brother of governor Hora- 
tio Seymour. William Seymour was 
a lawyer. He was appointed first 
judge of Broome county in 1833 and 
was elected to congress in 1834. Elias 
VV. Seymour came to Owego when IS 
years of age. He studied medicine in 
1866 and began practice in 1870. He 
died June 26, 1881, at Owego. 
ABRAHAM GREEK. 

Another of the early residents of 
North avenue was Abraham Greek. 
He and captain Sylvenus Fox were 
"bound boys" and were brought here 
by p:iizur Talcott and his sons 
from Glastonbury, Conn., in 1803. 
Both learned and worked at the car- 
penter's trade. Capt. Fox bought the 
lot at the southeast corner of Fox 
street and North avenue and built a 



317 
house thereon, in which he lived the 
rest of his life. Mr. Greek bought 
land on the west side of North ave- 
nue, a little south of Fox street and 
Ijuilt thereon two houses and lived in 
one of them imtil he died March 14, 
1S62. 

Mr. Greek's wife, Mrs. Harriet 
Greek, was an eccentric woman 
whose vocabulary was more extensive 
and comprehensive than accurate. 
She was a combination of Smolletfs 
Tabitha Bramble, Sheridan's Mrs. 
Malaprop, and Shillaber'g Mrs. Part- 
ington, and her sayings created much 
amusement for her neighbors. She 
once described an iron safe as a 
"bugle proof safe with a revolt in 
it," and she expressed her opinion 
pretty emphatically of some of the 
good people of the village who were 
outside of her social circle as 'put- 
ting on altogether too much codfish 
aristocracy." To a neighbor this 
cheerful old lady once said that she 
had always had a "resentment" that 
she would "die in a prance." but her 
presentiment proved to be unfounded 
in anything but vague surmise, for 
instead of lingering in a trance she 
passed away suddenly on the 23d of 
December, 1863, at the not very ad- 
vanced age of 60 years. 

ISAAC IJLLIE. 

Isaac Lillie, a school teacher and 
civil engineer, came to Owego in 1814. 
His father, Abraham Lillie, came at 
an early day from England to Boston. 
Mass., and engaged in ship building. 
Isaac Lillie was born at Scotland, 
Windham county, Conn., Oct. 19, 1788. 
He lived at one time at Butternuts. 
Otsego county, N. Y., and later at 
Montrose, Pa. 



31S 

After coming to Owego Mr. Li Hie 
surveyed much of the land in Coxe's 
patent. He taught school several 
years in the old school house which 
stood on the south side of Main street, 
near where the rectory of St. Paul's 
ahurch now stands. When the Owego 
academy was built in 1828, he was 
asked to take charge of the school as 
principal, but declined to do so. He 
was much interested in the cause of 
temperance and the abolition of 
slavery, and he co-operated in forming 
the first anti-slavery society in Tioga 
county in 1839. As a surveyor he was 
naturally conversant with land values 
and was elected an assessor of the 
town of Owego in 1851 and 1854. 

Mr. Lillie was twice married. Of 
his first wife we have no record. His 
second wife was Rachel Nealy. She 
was a daughter of .John Nealy, who 
came to Owego in April, 1785, with 
James and Robert McMaster and 
William Woods from Florida, N. Y. 
Her brother, David Nealy, is said to 
liave been the second white child born 
in Owego. He died March 8. 1871. 
aged 78 years. 

Mr. Lillie lived during the last 
twenty years of his life in a house 
which stood on the north side of Front 
street, east of William street. He 
purchased the property in April, 183:;. 
from John Mack, of the town of 
IHysses, Tompkins county. After his 
death this property, together with the 
drug store building at the northeast 
corner of Front and Lake streets. 
passed into possession of his daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Deming. The dwelling house 
in west Front street was subsequently 
torn down and in its place she built 



319 
the house now owned and occupied by 
John Jones. 

Mrs. Lillie died at Owego Feb. 2, 
1849, aged 54 years. Mr. I^illie died 
Sept. 23, 1854. 

The children of Mr. Lillie and his 
first wife were Susan Lillie, who mar- 
ried Mr. Muar and lived at Scottsville, 
N. Y., and John Hoyt Lillie, who was 
born 13 April, 1813, at Montrose, Pa., 
and married Charlotte B. Curtis, of 
Montrose. She died at Rochester, N. 
Y., and he 30 March, 1903, at Los- 
Angeles, Cal. 

The children of Isaac and Rachel 
(Nealy) Lillie were as follows: 

1. Sarah Lulie, born 4 Jan., 1827, 
at Owego. Died 4 July, 1838. 

2. Catherine B. Lillie, born 4 Oct., 
1828, at Owego. Married Horace R. 
Ueming 18 Sept., 1858, at Owego. He 
died 7 April, 1882, at Waterbury, 
Conn. 

3. James Edward Lillie, born 11 
Sept., 1833, at Owego. Married Lucy 
Ketchum, of Corning. He died 27 
May, 1901, at Washington, D. C. 

James Edward Lillie was a ma- 
chinist. He lived at Corning, N. Y., 
and at Susquehanna, Pa., and was 
later and for many years employed in 
the government machine shops in the 
ordnance department at Washington, 
D. C, in which city he died May 28, 
1901. 

Catherine B. Lillie married Horace 
R. Deming, of Owego, and still lives 
in this village. Mr. Deming was born 
May 1, 1829, at Bennington, Vt. He 
came to Owego in 1843 and learned 
the tinner's trade. He was for many 
years engaged in the hardware and tin 
business with various partners, and 
was afterward in the grocery business 
with Michael Bergin. Later he con- 
ducted a wholesale butter and cheese 



320 

business in Xew Haven, Conn., and 
still later he engaged in the same 
business in Newark, N. J. He died 
April 7, 1882, at Waterbury, Conn., 
where he was conducting a wholesale 
flour, grain, hay, and butter business. 

Dr. .John Hoyt Lillie had a some- 
what remarkable career. In May. 
1832, he accompanied an uncle on a 
trip to Illinois, which was then in the 
•far west." He volunteered to take 
the census of Chicago, and did so, the 
tnumeration showing the population 
to be 1,650 people. Later he returned 
to Owego, where he remained until 

is;jii. 

Mr. Lillie was a man of great in- 
genuity, and had learned the trade of 
a watchmaker. In 1839 he built a 
steamboat, the second one ever con- 
structed at this village. In the fall of 
that year he and Gilbert Forsyth, with 
their families, started down the river 
in the boat, intending to go to Cincin- 
nati, Ohio. The boat was wrecked 
near Wyso.x, Pa., and the rest of the 
journey was made overland. In Cin- 
cinnati Mr. Lillie studied medicine 
and obtained a physician's license to 
practise. 

In 1841 he settled at Joliet, 111. He 
had become interested in the study of 
electricity, and he built a circular 
railroad, twelve feet in diameter, on 
which a miniature locomotive, de- 
signed by him, was driven by elec- 
tricity. In order to obtain money with 
which to patent his invention, he ex- 
hibited his model and delivered public 
lectures. At Peoria he attracted the 
attention of senator Thomas H. Ben- 
ton, of Missouri, who gave him letters 
to Prof. Henry, of the Smithsonian in- 
stiute, and other prominent men in 



321 

Washington, who assisted him finan- 
cially. 

In 1S50 Dr. Lillie obtained his first 
1 latent for the first electric motor, but 
not without some difficulty. An oflficer 
in the patent office tried to steal Dr. 
I.illie's claim to the invention, and he 
might have succeeded had not Prof. 
Henry made dire threats of exposure 
and disgrace. 

In order to raise money with which 
to develop his invention toward the 
point of commercial value, Dr. Lillie 
engaged in further lecturing tours, in 
one of which he met P. T. Barnum, 
the showman, who paid him $250 for a 
model of the new motor for exhibition 
in Barnum's New York museum. This 
proved unfortunate for the inventor, 
as the public looked upon the model in 
the museum more as a freak toy than 
as the beginning of immeasurable 
commercial achievements. 

Dr. Lillie's circular electric railroad 
was exhibited by the inventor at his 
old home in Owego in 1851. His lec- 
ture was delivered in Patch's hall, 
which occupied the third story of a 
brick block on the west side of Lake 
street, where the Chamberlain block 
now stands. 

On a wooden framework, suppoi'ted 
by posts about four feet high and 
standing on the floor Dr. Lillie had 
constructed a circular track of two 
continuous rails in the form of a large 
hoop, twelve feet in diameter 
over which a miniature four-wheeled 
truck was run. On this truck was a 
galvanic battery and a combination of 
wheels. Electric power was applied 
by the battery to the wheels causing 
them to revolve, sending the cars 
round and round on the circular track. 



In 1850 Dr. Lillie removed to Hor- 
nellsville, N. Y., where he continued 
his experiments. In 1860 he travelled 
through the country exhibiting Miss 
I3ollie Button, a dwarf, and in 1863, he 
travelled giving exhibitions of nitrous 
oxide, or laughing gas. In 1868 he 
removed from Rochester to San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., and thence in 1873 to 
Santa Rosa. In 1876 he conducted a 
car of tourists to the centennial ex- 
position at Philadelphia and in 1878 
and again in 1886 he visited Europe. 
Upon his return in the latter year he 
became a resident of Los Angeles, 
where he lived until his death. 

When he settled in Los Angeles he 
possessed only a modest competence, 
b\it this he judiciously invested in the 
business of buying and selling real 
estate, until at the time of his death 
he had amassed a fortune of $250,000. 

Ur. Lillie's death was the result of 
an accident. In the night of March 
2G, 1903, he inadvertently stepi)ed off 
the back porch of his house and 
I)lunged six feet to the flagging. His 
skull was fractured and he died four 
days afterward on March 30. 

.lOSEPH OGDEN. 

.I()sei)h Ogden. whose sons, Jehial 
Walter, and Charles Ogden, were gun- 
smiths, came to Owego from Orange 
county, N. Y., about the year 1810, 
driving the entire distance with a 
team, and settled on a farm three 
miles east of this village, known as 
the John Camp farm. Several years 
later he removed to Owego and 
worked as a stone mason and also as 
a watch repairer. 

It may seem a little singular in 
these days but two trades so entirely 



323 
different — one requiring patience and 
skill and the other strength and en- 
durance — should have been learned 
l).v the same man. The explanations 
is simple. There was not sufficient 
work in small communties in those 
days to keep a man employed at one 
trade all the year round, and while 
mason work was readily obtained in 
the summer season, masons were idle 
in winter, so two trades were learned 
by one man. in order that he could be 
employed at one while there was no 
employment to be had at the other. 

His eldest son, Jehial Ogden, 
learned the trade of a gunsmith hi 
Col. Henry McCormick's gun shop, 
and became foreman of the shop. 
Walter Ogden was born on the farm 
Dec. 2, 1819, and was fifteen years of 
age when he became an apprentice to 
learn the trade in Col. McCormick's 
shop. In 1837 Jehial Ogden built a 
gun shop at the northwest corner of 
Main and Liberty streets where St- 
Paul's Episcopal church now stands, 
and he and Walter Ogden conducted 
the business there until April, 1839, 
when Walter Ogden bought the lot on 
the west side of North avenue on 
which the brick store owned by Geo. 
Snyder and the two stores adjoining 
it at the north now stand, and built 
thereon a gun shop. In 1848 Charles 
Ogden became a partner in the busi- 
ness. Several years afterward they 
purchased of Charles Talcott the 
brick store now occupied by L. T. 
Stanbrough's plumbing store opposite 
the Ahwaga house in Front street, 
where- they conducted a gun shop and 
variety store. 

Charles Ogden died Dec. (!, 1868, 
aged 46 years. Walter Ogden died 



324 

Feb. 23, 1879, aged 59 years. Jehial 
Ogden died Feb. 21. 1S80, aged 68 
years. 

Joseph Ogden had three daughters. 
Rebecca Ogden died July 20, 1880. 
aged 58 years, and unmarried. Sarah 
Ogden married John Gardiner. Selina 
Ogden married Ambrose Townsend. 
Mr. Townsend was a carpenter. He 
was born Sept. 27, 1810, in the town 
of Burn, Dutchess county, N. Y., and 
died in Owego April 17, 1859. His 
wife died June 21, 1876, aged 62 years. 
Mr. Townsend built the house on the 
north side of Main street, the fifth 
house east of Paige street, which was 
owned by Thomas A. Dodd after his 
death and is now owned by Mrs. Mary 
Chesbro. 

Joseph Ogden died Sept. 19, 1855, at 
Owego, aged 63 years. His wife, 
Sarah Ogden, died Jan. 10, 1864. aged 
75 years. 

FRANCIS ARMSTRONG. 
Francis Armstrong was born at 
Florida, Orange county, N. Y., Dec. 4. 
1788. In February, 1821, he came to 
the town of Newark Valley, where he 
purchased a farm, near the Owego 
town line and where he followed farm- 
ing seven years. In 1829 he came to 
Owego to take the office of deputy 
sheriff under Col. Henry McCormick. 
At that time Tioga and Chemung were 
half-shire counties, and one sheriff 
was elected for both counties. Mr. 
Armstrong lived in the old court 
house at the southeast corner of Main 
and Court streets, which building was 
occupied as a sheriff's residence and 
jail on the first floor, and as a court 
room on the second floor. Here Mr. 
Armstrong lived nine years as deputy 



325 

under Col. McCormick and Col. Mc- 
Cormick's successors In office. In 
1830 he was elected a justice of the 
Ijeaceand served eight years. His first 
wife was Elysiaii Poppino, who died 
in Newark Valley, in 1821. His sec- 
ond wife was her sister, Huldah Poii- 
pino. They were married Jan. 1'), 
1823. Mr. Armstrong's children were 
Rev. Anizi Armstrong, who was pas- 
tor of the Presbyterian church of 
Dutch Neck, N. J.; Francis Arm- 
strong, who was a bookkeeper and 
who lives in Pittsburg, Pa.; Mrs. Han- 
nah Inslee and Mrs. Harriet Eaton, 
who removed to Washington, D. C: 
Mrs. Elysian Fassett, who removed to 
Rockwood, Minn., and Mrs. James H. 
Board, who removed to Canaseraga, 
N. Y. Mr. Armstrong died Nov. 26, 
1881. 

Daniel Armstrong also came to 
Owego from Orange county, where he 
was born. In early life he was a 
school teacher and later a bookkeeper 
and accountant. He died at Owego 
Jan. 25, ISSG, aged 79 years. 

James Conklin and his sons, wagon 
makers, were early residents here. 
They came from Orange county, N. 
Y., in 1820. He died at Owego Jan. 
(>, 1855, aged 92 years. 

One of his sons was Jacob Conklin, 
whose wagon shoji was for several 
\ears on the southwest corner of Main 
and Park streets. In 1837 Francis 
Armstrong purchased the property, 
turned the building partly around and 
converted it into a dwelling house. It 
was afterward owned and occupied 
several years by Charles C. Thomas 
and is now the i)roi)erty of Mrs. C. R. 
Heaton. 



326 

The wagon shop of another son, 
James Conklin, Jr., was on the north 
side of Main street, a little east of 
North avenue, and it was burned with 
several other buildings Aug. 5, 1841. 
He died here Sept. 24, 1865, aged 65 
years. 

James Conklin lived on the west 
side of Church street, between Main 
and Temple streets. This street was 
for many years a small lane. 

Asa Dearborn was a shoemaker. 
He removed from Candor to Owego in 
1S26 and worked at his trade here un- 
til his death. He died May 23, 1873, 
aged 73 years. His wife, Pluma 
Dearborn, died Jan. 3, 1873, aged 78 
years. 

This concludes the sketches of the 
early residents of Owego and they in- 
clude those only who came here pre- 
vious to 1830. Had it been considered 
expedient to extend them over a later 
period they would have included Dr. 
Lucius H. Allen, judge Alanson Mun- 
ger. Dr. Hiram N. Eastman, Col. Na- 
thaniel W. Davis, Henry N. Hubbard, 
.Joshua L. Pinney, Franklin Slosson. 
Timothy P. Patch, James and John W. 
I/Amoureux, Arba Campbell, Thomas 
I. and John R. Chatfield, Dr. John 
Frank, and many others who came 
here subsequent to that year. 



Some Account of John Gee, Who 
Fought nearly Seven Years in the 
Revolutionary War and Came to 
Owego with Gen. Clinton's Army in 
1779 and afterward Fought in the 
Battle of Newtown, Dying Several 
Years Later on a Farm in the Town 
of Barton When Past Ninety-two 
Years of Age. 

Among the papers of Judge Charles 
P. Avery, now owned by the Wiscon- 
sin state historical society, is an in- 
terview with John Gee, a revolution- 
ary soldier who came to Owego in 
1779 with Gen. Clinton's army, and 
who died many years later in the 
town of Barton. Mr. Gee"s statement 
as as follows: 

JOHN GEES STATEMENT. 

June 8, 1853. 
John Gee in his 91st year. Served 
in revolutionary war. Entered the 
army at Ft. Montgomery (near An- 
thony's Nose) the year Burgoyne was 
taken, then in his 15th year. 

1 was with Gen'l. Clinton's right 
wing of the army. I was at Otsego 
lake when the dam was made. Part 
of us went by land down the river, 
and part in isateaux. We laid still 
awhile at Oquaga, some hours, till 
the boats came along. From there 
some of us went across the country, 
and not around the "bend." An 
Oneida Indian was our guide. There 
were the hills where the corn had 
grown at Owego, and Oquaga and 
Choconut. 

We made the junction with Sullivan 
at Tioga Point. Gen'l. Clinton came 
with the boats. We met Gen'l. Poor 
at Choconut. 

I was in the battle atNewtown under 
Gen'l. Clinton, belonged to the right 
wing, ascended the hill, and drove 
the enemy from that quarter. The 
next morning took a vote in the army 
to go on with half allowance. We de- 
cided to go on. At Catharine's Town 



32S 

Indians had fires there all burning-. 
iic... destroyed their huts. Squaw 
Catharine with a young squaw 14 or 
15 years old was there. 

I lived in Orange county after waj". 

There was a clearing at Owego. 
farge trees scattered around, but used 
as corn g^round. Some huts, &c., 
there. 

[ was at Yorktown at Coniwallis's 
surrende?-. 

I was bona at Peekskill, N. Y., in 
the year 1763, 13th Jan'y. Saw Wash- 
ington frequently. 

Large trees along the bank at Owe- 
^o. Extensive corn plains at Tioga 
Point, Oquaga, Owego, and Choconut. 

John Gee was a soldier in the 
Fourth regiment of infantry com- 
manded by Lieut. -Col. Frederick Weis- 
senfels in Gen. James Clinton's New 
York brigade of 1,500 men, which 
came to Owego August 17, 1779. Join- 
ing Sullivan's army of 3,500 men the 
combined forces marched from Tioga 
Point to Newtown (Elmira), where on 
Aug. 29 they fought and defeated the 
British and Indian forces numbering 
1,500 men under Butler and Brant. 

Mr. Gee was with Clinton's right 
wing, which ascended the hill upon 
the right of their centre, dislodging 
the Indians, who were there contest- 
ing every inch of ground under 
Brant" leadership. The severest of 
the engagement was along these 
heights, where Brant had taken his 
l)Osition, and here Mr. Gee was in the 
thickest of the fight. He was after- 
ward a participant in the engage- 
ments which ended with the surren- 
der of Gen. Cornwallis at Yorktown. 
He served in the army seven years 
lacking only one month. 

In 1795 Mr. Gee drew lot No. 21 in 
the military tract, just north of Owe- 
go hill in the town of Harford, Cort- 



329 

land county, and settled thereon. He 
came there with two other men from 
Chenango Point (now Binghamton), 
guided by marked trees. They cut 
down the trees on a small spot and 
built a little log house about 12 by 16 
feet in size, with only an axe, without 
a board, a nail, or a pane of glass, and 
returned whence they came. The 
next year Mr. Gee removed his fam- 
ily, consisting of his parents, his wife, 
and six children, from Wyoming, ar- 
riving .Tune 17, to live in this small 
building. 

One of his sons, John Gee, Jr., af- 
terward settled in the town of Rich- 
ford, where some of his descendants 
are still living. He later in life re- 
moved to the town of Barton, where 
he died. Judge Avery mentions him 
in his Susquehanna Valley papers 
(St.- Nicholas, page 381) as "living in 
a remote part of this town, westerly 
from Halsey Valley, in the 92d year 
of his age." 

The state military records show 
that John Gee was at different times 
a member of Col. Philip Van Cort- 
landt's Second regiment, of Col. James 
Holmes's Fourth regiment, of Col. 
Lewis DuBoys's Fifth regiment, of the 
Dutchess county militia (regiment of 
minute men), commanded by Col. 
Jacobus Swartwout, and of the Fourth 
Ulster county militia, commanded by 
Col. Johannes Hardenburgh in 177.5- 
1782. 

The name of Jno. Gee again appears 
in the list of members of the Second 
regiment of Dutchess county militia. 
Col. Abraham Brinkerhoff. 

The name of John Gee also appears 
in the list of persons suspected of be- 



330 

iiig torics. airJ also in the list of those 
whose estates were confiscated by the 
govtrnment. (See New York in the 
Revolution Supplement, pages 231 and 
255.) There may have been more 
than one man in the continental army 
named John Gee. 



Some Account of the First Grist Mills 
Guilt at Owego by Col. David Pix- 
ley, Thomas Matson, Jr., and 
Charles Frederick and Robert 
Charles Johnson. 

It is related in judge Avery's "Sus- 
quehanna Valley" papers that in 
Aiiril, 1785, James and Robert Mc- 
Master, John Nealy, and William 
Woods, with William Taylor, a bound 
l)oy, who were the first of the white 
men to settle here, came to Owego. 
They planted ten acres of corn on the 
fiats, north of where the Erie railroad 
now runs. After it was harvested in 
the fall "it was gathered and taken. 
I)y boat loads to Tioga Point and se- 
curely cribbed." As soon as it was 
thus secured the party set out on their 
return to their "winter quarters" in 
the valley of the Mohawk. 

To transport this corn down the 
Susquehanna river dead pine trees 
were cut. on the bank of the Owego 
creek and felled into the water, where 
they were bound together with withes, 
forming a raft. 

On this the corn was floated down 
the river and finally taken to the 
nearest mill, at Wilkes-Barre, to be 
ground. 

The first grist mill built in this part 
of the state, according to Wilkinson's 
"Annals of Binghamton," was built on 



331 

Fitch's creek, tour miles above Bing- 
hamton. in the present town of Kirk- 
wood. This creek took its name from 
Jonathan Fitch, an early settler there, 
who was the first representative of 
Tioga count.y in the state legislature, 
in 1792. He came from Wyoming, 
Pa., when the troubles which resulted 
in the massacre commenced, where he 
had been a merchant and high sheriff 
of Westmoreland county. 

The pioneers at Owego found no 
mill nearer than Wilkes-Barre, which 
they reached by canoes, until Fitch's 
mill was built in 1792. The same year 
a mill was built at Milltown. In 179:'. 
Col. David Pixley built a mill near 
this village, the first one erected here. 

Among the Avery papers in the Wis- 
consin state historical society's col- 
lection is a "statement and narrative" 
of Laurence Merriam, taken l)y Guy 
Hinchman Avery, judge Avery":; 
brother. Merriam settled three miles 
above Union. Merriam s^ays, among 
other things: 

"We' were very much straighten* d 
for food when we first came into the 
country; have ground corn all night 
in order to have something for break- 
fast: used wooden trenchers and 
wooden forks; had to go in canoes 
down to Shepard's mill for grist. The 
first grist mill that was built in the 
country was built up the Squires 
creek, four miles above Binghamton. 
It ran only in high water." 

This was doubtless the Fitcli mill. 

The Pixley mill stood on the we;;t 
bank of the Owego creek, near the 
Indian spring, and about forty rods 
above the present Main street bridge. 
It was built of logs. To get to it 
from the village it was necessary to 
ford the creek. The old mill stood 



332 
close under the bank, and the tail 
race ran close at the base of Vesper 
cliff. The entire course of the creek 
has been changed by the floods of many 
years, and in some places where the 
old stream ran are now stones, grass, 
and weeds. Until a few years ago 
remains of the flume could be seen, 
some of the timbers sticking out of 
the bank, showing where they had 
been cut and joined together. The 
old flume was just east of the Indian 
spring. 

This spring was a peculiar one, and 
was one which was resorted to by 
the Indians. The water never freezes 
and preserves tne same temperature 
all the year round. It still contains 
water, but is in a neglected condi- 
tion, used only for the watering of 
cattle. Before the springs were made 
dry by the clearing away of the 
woods, the water from this spring 
used to flow down to the south side 
of the old dam into the creek, or 
what w^as known as the old race. 
The water in the spring is very cold. 

On the high ground south of the 
spring have been found many arrow 
heads, hatchets, etc., from which it is 
inferred that the Indians were accus- 
tomed to camp there. From the mill 
the road extended west up a slight 
rise of ground to Col. Pixley's house, 
known for many years as the Pixley 
tavern, which house still stands there 
— the only one of the old houses now 
remaining in the town of Tioga. 

This house was built by Col. Pixley 
in 1791. The course of the old road 
from the mill to the house may still 
be seen. It has been for many years 
only a cow path. The bed of an old 
creek runs along the road on the north 



side. This creek lias been dry tor 
many years. It rises from springs in 
tlie woods nortli of Glenmary on tlie 
old Ephraim Leacli property. Tlie 
Pixley mill was washed away by high 
water in 1824 or 1825. 

There was another grist mill at an 
early day further down the Owego 
creek. In September, 1801, when 
Thomas Matson, .Jr., purchased of 
various owners a large amount of land 
on both sides of the creek north and 
south of where Maiji street now ex- 
tends, a saw mill and grist mill are 
mentioned in two of the deeds from 
Col. Pixley and Ashbel Wells to Mat- 
son as being on the east side of the 
creek and "standing in the meadow, 
near the mouth of the Owego creek, 
formerly held in .ioint ownership with 
James McMaster." 

Thomas Matson, .Jr., came to Owego 
from Simsbury, Conn. He had three 
sons, William, George, and Reuben 
Matson. A daughter, Rachel Matson, 
n^arried Daniel Goodale and lived in 
East Hartford, Conn. Another daugh- 
ter, Ruth Matson, married James 
Buck, of the town of Chatham, Middle- 
sex county, Conn. Still another daugh- 
ter, Fanny Matson. died at Owego 
May 4. 1811. 

Thomas Matson, Jr.. built a grist 
mill in Canawana. It stood about 
half way between the Owego cretk 
and the present hydraulic canal, or 
race, which supplies the electric light 
works with water power. It stood on 
the south side of the street now 
known as Main street, but then known 
as "the lake road." 

Col. Wm. Ransom, of Tioga Centre. 
once informed the writer that the Mat- 
son mill was built when he was five or 



334 

six years of age. As Col. Ransom 
was born in 1801, the date must have 
been 1806 or 1807. The mill was built 
of hewed logs and had but one run of 
stone. It was one story high and open 
to the roof, with no loft. An iron 
screen was suspended above the hop- 
per and the miller went up on a lad- 
der and poured wheat in, to screen it. 

Traces of the old race which sup- 
plied the mill with water can still be 
seen, although almost obliterated by 
the floods of many years, and where 
it crossed the street the highway was 
filled in and raised several years ago. 
After the property was sold to Charles 
Frederick and Robert Charles John- 
son, in the spring of 1833, the mill 
was converted into a plaster mill and 
it was burned in March, 1838. The 
plaster mill was afterward rebuilt. 

When the Matsons came here they 
bought about 400 acres of land on the 
west side of the Owego creek and 
lived thereon in log houses. As they 
accumulated money they tore down 
these houses and built better ones, 
framed from sawed lumber. George 
Matson lived west of the Owego creek 
where the Meadowbank farm house 
stands, which house was for many 
years the residence of Charles Frede- 
rick .Johnson. Reuben Matson lived 
on the north side of the road. His 
house stood near the highway and was 
just west of the present gate to the en- 
trance of the "Vesper Cliff" grounds. 
The house was afterward moved back 
and was made a part of the large 
house built on the place by Robert 
Charles Johnson. Wm. Matson lived 
west of his brother, Reuben's, house, 
in the farm house which still stands 
there. 



335 
West of the Matson grist mill was a 
pond known as Matson's pond, which 
extended nearly to the creek. It was 
crossed by a wooden bridge, sixty or 
seventy feet long. This pond was sub- 
sequently filled with earth by the 
Johnsons. 

When the hill west of the creek was 
cut through to extend Main street 
west up the hill into the town of 
Tioga, to make the ascent easier, a 
large quantity of human bones was 
dug up. This part of an Indian bury- 
dug up. This was part of an Indian 
burying ground. Of this ground 
.Judge Avery says: 

"An Indian burying ground extended 
along the brow of the cliff, on the 
westerly bank of the Owego creek 
upon the homestead premises of 
Messrs. J. Piatt and C. F. Johnson. It 
was a favorite burial place. Mr. 
Whitaker narrates that upon the death 
of Ka-nau-kwis .... he was 
brought to this place. Where he died 
she does not state, but Mrs. Williams 
recollects to have heard her father 
[Amos Draper] say that he received 
his death wound at Tioga Point. His 
remains must therefore have been 
transported from that place to this 
favorite spot of interment, a distance 
of twenty-one miles. Although many 
Indian graves have been found upon 
the site of Owego, no indications have 
been there exhibited of an appropria- 
tion so exclusive for Indian burial in 
its ordinary mode, as the extended 
brow of this cliff." 

Thomas Matson, Jr., died March 12, 
1818, aged 73 years. His wife, Abiah 
Matson, died Dec. 26, 1820, aged 72 
years. Their bodies were buried in 
the Tioga cemetery. 

After Thomas Matson's death the 
property all passed into the hands of 
the three sons, George, Reuben, and 
William Matson. In May, 1833, they 



.v>6 

sold all their ijroperty on both sides? 
of the Owego creek to Charles Frede- 
rick Johnson and his cousin, Robert 
Charles Johnson, and removed to Con- 
neannt, Ohio. 

Robert Charles' Johnson was born at 
Stratford, Conn., and came to Owego 
Feb. 27. ISoC. He was a lawyer and 
became the law partner of Thomas 
Farrington. Charles Frederick John- 
son also came from Stratford. In 
May, 1833, they purchased of the Mat- 
son brothers the land between the 
Owego creek and the present mill race 
of the electric light company's work 
on both sides of Main street, and 
much land on both sides of the same 
street on the west side of the creek. 
The Matson mill was afterward con- 
verted into a plaster mill and con- 
ducted by Charles Frederick Johnson. 
The cousins built a larger gi-ist mill 
on the ground where the electric light 
company's power house now stands 
and in the summer of 1833 built the 
hydraulic canal, seven-eighths of a 
mile long, to supply it with water 
|)()Wer. 

The year previous to the building of 
this canal had been a cold season and 
the corn crop was killed. Everybody 
was in a semi-starving condition, and 
the building of the canal was a God- 
send to many of the farmers. Two or 
three hundred of them were employed 
in digging the ditch and building the 
dam and mill. Money was paid for 
the work on the spot. Shanties were 
erected along the work, in which the 
men slept, and in some of them their 
wives cooked their meals. Stables 
were also erected to house the teams 
employed on the work. 



Corn was selling at $1.25 a bushel, 
and the price advanced to about $2. 
Wheat sold at $2 a bushel. Rice could 
be bought for 8 and 9 cents a pound 
and was used largely by the people, 
on account of the scarcity and high 
price of grain. Silver change was also 
scarce, and Robert Charles Johnson 
and the Trunians issued "shinplaster" 
currency, which was circulated in 
making change. 

The Johnson cousins built in addi- 
tion to the grist mill a large sawmill 
at the foot of the race, near the Sus- 
quehanna river. This sawmill had 
four upright saws and three circu- 
lar saws and was considered then 
one of the best ones in the state, but 
it would be looked upon at the present 
day as a rather old fogy affair. The 
machinery for the mill was made in 
New York city and transported to 
Binghamton by canal, and thence by 
teams to Owego. This mill was 
burned. 

In the days of the Matsons the 
country was covered with woods. 
Every available place along the creeks 
was selected as a site for a saw mill. 
No lath was made at that time and 
the slabs were thrown into the creek, 
where they floated ashore further 
down the stream and were gathered 
by people living there and used for 
firewood. 

The Johnsons contemplated the 
building up of a manufacturing centre 
in Canawana, and to that end estab- 
lished various manufacturing inter- 
ests there. On the west bank of the 
canal was a sheepskin tannery con- 
ducted by Arba Campbell and Thomas 
I. Chatfield. This tannery was burned 
in December, 1860. Another tannery 



338 

was built on the same site, and it was 
also burned in December, 1879. 

On the west bank of the canal, sev- 
eral rods north of Main street, was an 
axe factory. There were also a pail 
and tub factory, which was afterward 
converted into a wooden match box 
factory; a shoemaker's last factory, 
conducted by John Camp and Ezekiel 
Noble; a clock factory, Tinkham & 
Blanchard's soap factory, Daniel 
Ruggs's match factory, John G. Crane's 
wool and carding mill; Warren Kim- 
ball's carpet weaving looms, and other 
industries. 

At the corner of Main and Division 
streets Robert Charles Johnson built 
a store in the fall of 1838. This store 
was kept at various times by Frede- 
rick E. Piatt, E. W. Warner, and 
others. It was afterward converted 
into a tavern and was burned in 1868. 
East of this was another store known 
as the "Indian Spring grocery," which 
was also burned. Between this store 
and the canal were two houses occu- 
pied by the millers and their families, 
which houses are still standing. 

The failure of the manufacturing 
project was largely owing to the 
gradual decrease in the water supply, 
owing to the country being cleared of 
Its woods. 

Charles Frederick Johnson lived in 
the house on his farm in the town of 
Tioga, known as Meadowbank farm, 
which house still stands there and is 
owned by Lewis H. Leonard, who pur- 
chased the farm of the Johnson heirs 
in June, 1900. 

Charles Frederick Johnson was the 
seventh in descent from Robert John- 
son, who was born in Rutlandshire. 
England, in 1599. He was one of the 



339 
Toimder.s of New Haven, Conn., and 
died there in IGGl. 

His son, William .lohnson, died at 
Guilford, Conn., in 1702. William's 
sson, Samuel, also died there in 1727. 

Samuel's son, also named Samuel, 
was born at Guilford in lG9(i and died 
at Stratford, Conn., in 1772. He was 
.graduated from Yale college and was 
afterward president of Kings college 
in New York city. He was the fir.st 
Episcopal clergyman ordained in Con- 
necticut. 

Samuel's son, William Samuel John- 
son, was horn at Stratford in 1727 and 
died there in 1819. He was graduated 
from Yale college and became a law- 
yer. He was a member of the Stamp- 
Act congress of 1765, a member of the 
Federal convention in 17S7 which 
framed the constitution of the United 
States. He was United States senator 
from Connecticut and president of 
Columbia college in New York city. 

His son, Samuel William .Tohnson, 
who was the father of Charles Frede- 
rick .lohnson, was born at Stratford 
Oct. 23, 1761, and died there Oct. 25. 
1806. He also was graduated from 
Yale college and became a lawyer. 
He was judge of iirobate, member of 
the Connecticut legislature, and mem- 
ber of the governor's council. He 
married Nov. 27, 1791, Susan, daugh- 
ter of Pierrtpont Kdwards. 

Charles Frederick .lohnson was born 
at Stratford in 1S04. His parents both 
died when he was an infant and he 
was brought up by his grandfather. 
William Sanmel .lohnson. After hi.- 
graduation from Union college he 
spent three years studying in France. 
In 1835 he married Sarah Dwight 
Woolsey.youngest daughter of Willia..i 



340 

Walton Woolsey, an old-time merchant 
of New York city, some account of 
whom is given in the second volume 
of "The Old Merchants of New York," 
by Walter Barrett. Mr. Woolsey was 
a descendant of Thomas Woolsey, a 
near relative of the Thomas Woolsey 
who was better known in history as 
cardinal Woolsey. She was born in 
New York city in 1805 and died in 
Paris, France, Feb. 24, 1870. Her 
brother was president Thomas Wool- 
sey of Yale college. Mrs. Johnson was 
on a tour through Europe at the time 
of her death and died of pneumonia. 

Mr. Johnson lived at his Tioga 
home until 1876 when he removed to 
the home of his daughter, Mrs. Will- 
iam Bellamy, at Dorchester, Mass.. 
where he died July 6, 1882. The 
fathers of both Mr. and Mrs. Johnson 
owned much land in Tioga county, 
which was the reason for their com- 
ing here. 

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were people 
of refinement and fine culture, and 
were highly educated. Mr. Johnson 
remained a student during his entire 
life, giving most of his attention to 
the Latin language and literature. In 
1874 he published a metrical transla- 
tion of the great poem of Lucretius, 
"De Rerum Natura," which was re- 
ceived with favor in both America 
and England. He also possessed 
marked inventive powers, although he 
lacked the practical sagacity neces- 
sary to render new ideas pecuniarily 
remunerative. He was the inventor of 
what is known as the atmospheric 
dock for raising vessels, now in use in 
every seaport in the world, and of the 
circular tumbler combination lock, 
which may be seen on most American 



341 

safes, and of several other inventions, 
which came into general use after he 
had abandoned them. 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Charles 
Frederick Johnson were Charles Fred- 
■erick .Johnson, .Jr., who has been for 
several years professor of English lit- 
erature in Trinity college; William 
VVoolsey Johnson, who is professor of 
draughting in the United States naval 
academy at Annapolis, Md.; Anna M. 
Johnson, who married William Bel- 
lamy and lives at Dorchester, Mass., 
and Katharine Bayard Johnson, who 
died in Paris, France, in February. 
1906. 

Robert Charles Johnson's father was 
also named Robert Charles John.son, 
and was a brother of Samuel William 
Johnson, whose father was William 
Samuel Johnson, president of Colum- 
bia college. The brothers, Samuel C. 
and Robert C. Johnson became great 
speculators in the wild lands of south- 
ern central New York and in other 
states, even as far south az North 
Carolina. One or both of the brothers 
were in the Watkins and Flint syndi- 
cate which bought of the state the 
great track of land, then wholly in 
Tioga county, called the Watkins and 
Flint Purchase. This tract was thirty- 
five miles in length east and west and 
about eight miles in width. 

In the division of the property of 
the younger Robert Charles Johnhon 
and his cousin, Charles Frederick 
Johnson, the proi)erty of about sixteen 
acres known as "Vesper Cliff" in the 
town of Tioga became the home of 
Robert Charles Johnson, and the next 
year he became owner of the mill 
property. He moved the Reuben Mat- 
son house back on the grounds and 



342 

built the large mansion, which t^till 
stands there. The place was known 
as "Tioga Terrace." 

Mr. Johnson sold the property in 
1841 to Horace Frizelle, of Horace- 
town, Pa., for $11,500. Frizelle also 
bought of R. C. Johnson property on 
the east side of the creek at the cor- 
ner of Main and Division streets, 32 
feet front by 100 feet deep, on which 
stood the store. 

In November, 1842, Frizelle sold the 
Tioga property for $5,000 to Jonathan 
Piatt, who, following the example of 
the poet, N. P. Willis, who had named 
his home "Glenmary" in honor of his 
wife, changed the name of his new 
purchase to "Glenbetsy," in honor of 
his wife, her name being Betsy. 

In March, 1854, Mr. Piatt sold the 
property for $6,500 to Rev. Samuel 
Hanson Cox, a noted Presbyterian 
clergyman, who in his old age had 
come to Owego as pastor of the Pres- 
byterian church. Mr. Cox changed 
the name of his new home to "Vesper 
Cliff," which it has ever since re- 
tained. 

In April, 1859, after Dr. Cox had re- 
moved to LeRoy, Genesee county, he 
sold the property for $7,000 to Cai)t. 
John B. Sardy, of Brooklyn, who had 
become wealthy in the business of 
importing guano from South America. 
Capt. Sardy and his family occupied 
the property as their summer home 
eight years. In Nov., 1867, he sold the 
property for $12,000 to Thomas C. 
Piatt, who in April, 1869, sold it for 
the same amount to Samuel S. Wat- 
son, of Newark Valley. Mr. Watson 
subsequently failed in business and in 
February, 1883, the property passed 
into the ijossession of John Hardman. 



343 
he imrchasing it at referee's sale for 
$4,000. 

While Mr. Watson owned the prop- 
erty the cliff was practically ruined 
and the value of the property perma- 
nently impaired by the cutting of a 
road along the side of the cliff, for 
the purpose of obtaining easy access 
to a sand bank. 

Robert Charles Johnson was born 
at Stratford, Conn., June 6, 1806. He 
married Mary Eliza Pumpelly, daugh- 
ter of James Pumpelly. He removed in 
18.51 to Westfield, Chautauqua county, 
N. Y., where he purchased a farm at 
Long Point on Chautauqua lake, on 
which he built a magnificent resi- 
dence, commanding a beautiful view 
of the lake, which residence was the 
pride of the town for years. The 
house was elegantly furnished and 
the Johnsons were lavish in enter- 
taining their friends. Johnson's 
friends, however, were convivial 
ajjirits and he gradually become dis- 
sipated, and to such an extent that 
his wife left him and obtained a di- 
vorce from him, afterward becoming 
the wife of William H. Piatt. 

In the division of the family prop- 
erty, following the divorce, Johnson 
came into possession of the Long 
Point residence. Here, freed from 
the restraints of marriage, he gave 
himself up to a life of revelling. His 
fortune rapidly dwindled, and after a 
time he was thrown on his own re- 
sources. He went to Washington, 
where he obtained an appointment as 
inspector of timber for the Norfolk 
navy yard. He was afterward trans- 
ferred to the treasury department, 
where he remained until 1881, when 



344 

he retunied to Jamestown, N. Y., 
where he lived quietly on an annunity 
furnished by a nephew, who was in 
Paris. In December, 1885, when he 
was 80 years of age, he was injured 
by a fall down stairs, from the effects 
of which he died June 10, 1886. 

Thomas M. Nichols purchased the 
sawmill at the foot of the race in 183f> 
and the grist mill two or three years 
afterward. In company with Francis 
A. Bliss he conducted the mills from 
1848 to his death in May, 1878. In 
January, 1885, William E. Dorwin pur- 
chased the property and afterward, in 
comiiany with George L. Rich and 
.James T. Stone, supplied the mill with 
new machinery at a cost of about 
$25,000. The mill was bunied March 
19, 1889, and was not rebuilt. 

On the north side of Main street, 
extending from William street to the 
mill race is a row of sycamore and 
elm trees. These trees were set out 
by direction of James Pumpelly in 
1827 and were placed sixteen feet 
apart, on which to build a fence. The 
sycamores have nearly all died, but 
the elms are still standing, which 
shows that the elm is the best tree to 
l)lant for permanence as a shade tree 
in a village. 

The young elm trees were taken 
from the island in the Owego creek. 
There was an insufficient number of 
elms,and when the supply of elms was 
exhausted sycamores were used. The 
trees were planted by Deacon Perry, a 
blacksmith, who lived in a house in 
Main street where the convent of St- 
Patrick's church now stands. His 
shop was also in Main street and oc- 
cupied the spot on which the second 
house east of the Baptist church now 



345 
stands. Eldridge Forsyth, who was 
then a boy of fifteen years of age and 
worked for Mr. Pumpelly, assisted 
Deacon Perry in the work of obtaining 
and i)lanting the trees. 



The Indian Trails at Owego, Which 
Were Used as Public Roads by the 
First White Settlers and until High- 
ways Were Regularly Laid Out — 
The Streets as Established by the 
Village Trustees. 

When the soldiers of Clinton's and 
Sullivan's armies passed down the 
Susquehanna through where the vil- 
lage of Owego is now the land was 
all covered with pine, hemlock, and 
other trees. It was all woods except 
a natural clearing on the flat east of 
the Owego creek. There were no 
roads whatever; nothing but Indian 
trails. When the first white settlers 
came here in 1785 from Montgomery 
county the Indian trail was the only 
feasible path for the whole distance, 
.ludge Avery says: 

"It generally ran along the bank, 
near the river, but from the Round 
Hill at Nanticoke, it left the river and 
did not strike it again until near the 
farm of the late Col. Camp at Camp- 
ville. Below the 'narrows' it also 
diverged and came upon the bank 
again near the homestead of Mr. 
Leonard [Stephen B. Leonard, now 
the property of James A. Archibald], 
a little more than a mile above Owe- 
go. From that point it followed the 
river bank to Owego. 

"Upon the other side of the river, 
the trail was uniformly directly upon 
the bank, except where, to avoid 
curves, the distance was shortened by 
following a more direct line. Both 
trails are described as having been 
wide enough for the passage of horses, 



346 

with packs, cattle, etc., and in many 
places interiiosing no obstacles to 
wheeled vehicles." 

The Indian trail on the north side 
of the river extended along the river 
bank down to the Owego creek at its 
mouth, crossing the creek and follow- 
ing the river bank down through the 
town of Tioga to the "narrows" at 
Tioga Centre." The mouth of the 
Owego creek is now about three times 
as wide as it was then, and it was 
easily forded. 

This Indian trail was the first road 
used by the earliest settlers at Owego-; 
who built their houses on the north 
side of the trail, with woods in the 
rear of their dwellings. The houses 
fronted on the river and the Indian 
trail was between them and the 
stream. After Front street had been 
laid out as a road west of where the 
river bridge is now the Indian trail 
remained and was for several years a 
beautiful walk. 

Along this trail on the river flat in 
the town of Tioga farm houses were 
built and the places where they stood 
are indicated by the shallow wells 
which supplied the families with 
water and which still remain. 

Another Indian trail was the "Cay- 
uga lake trail." It entered the north 
part of the present village of Owego 
and extended direct to the river. It 
was nearly identical in its course with 
the street now known as McMaster 
street. The two trails met each other 
on the bank of the river, near where 
Mrs. Eliza J. Pride's residence is now. 
it is in this vicinity that the skeletons 
of many of the aborigines have been 
disinterred at various times. 



347 

As the country became settled this 
trail was gradually used as a public 
highway and it was known as the 
Lalie road, and the name was also 
applied later to that part of Main 
street as it extended from McMaster 
street west across the Owego creek 
on its way to Athens, Pa. As late as 
1833 in deeds of property along this 
road in the town of Tioga it is men- 
tioned as 'the lake road." 

The highway uj) McMaster street 
was later called the Cayuga road, and 
it was also known as Cayuga street 
as late as 1837. It was originally 
opened to accommodate lumbermen, 
who reached the river at its foot. 
Gen. Anson Cam|) owned at an early 
day an ark yard at the foot of this 
street, where vast quantities of lum- 
ber were shipped down the river. 

The Cayuga road was regularly laid 
out as a highway by Lemuel Brown 
and Abijah Foster, commissioners of 
highways, in ISOf). That portion be- 
tween Main and Front streets was 
subsequently known as Chapel street. 
(so called because the old Methodist 
church, then known as "the chapel," 
stood on the southeast corner of it 
and Main street. After the academy 
was built in this .street, in 1883, the 
name was changed to Academy street. 

McMaster street received its name 
in honor of James McMaster, the orig- 
inal owner of all the land on which 
the village is situated, who lived on 
the south side of Front street, near 
the lower end of Academy street. 

The old village plot com])rised the 
greater portion of lot number twenty- 
three in James McMaster's "half 
townshij)." It was surveyed by 
Amaziah Hutchinson, in 1788 and 



348 

1789, and the survey was completed 
by David Pixley, Jr., in 1789 and 1790. 
The western limits of the village ex- 
tended but a short distance west of 
the present village park; its eastern 
limits were a little east of Paige 
street. The northern tier of lots was 
south of where Temple street now is. 

When Amaziah Hutchinson sur- 
veyed the village plot the present 
Lake street was a narrow road 
through the woods. In 1802 Henry 
Steward and Solomon Williams, com- 
missioners of highways, laid out a 
liighway extending from the north end 
of Lake street north. It extended in 
a direct line a little east of and nearly 
parallel with the present North ave- 
nue (where there was then no street) 
to a point a little north of Talcott 
street at the south line of Joseph and 
Lemuel Brown's lot. Thence it ex- 
tended north where the present high- 
way runs. Lake street was then nar- 
rower than it is now, and on each 
side of it was a rail fence. 

When Hutchinson's survey was 
made. Front street was known some- 
times as "the main street," sometimes 
as "Water street," and also as "the 
river road." In 179.'), it was made into 
a highway, and not a particularly 
straight one. 

The street now known as Main 
street first extended from Lake street 
west to McMaster street. It was 
sometimes known as "Second" street 
and also as "Hack" street, it being 
back of P'ront street, the main high- 
way. Main street and its extension as 
a highway into and through the town 
of Tioga was not then in existence, 
and its present course was then cov- 
ered with woods and brush. When 



:>49 

William Puinpelly surveyed the ex- 
tension of this street east the ground 
was so covered with thick underbrush 
that he had considerable difficulty in 
cutting his way through it. 

The only streets at Owego at that 
time were the road along the river 
bank, the Cayuga lake trail (McMas- 
ter street), Back street, and the high- 
way from Lake street north. 

When Amaziah Hutchinson made 
his survey of the village in 1788-9 a 
street, or lane, was laid out between 
the lots in Front street now occupied 
by the residences of Howard J. Mead 
and J. C. Kenyon. This lane crossed 
Back street and extended as far north 
as where Temple street is now. The 
street now known as Paige street, ex- 
tending from Front street north as 
far as the present Temple street, was 
also laid down on this map as a lane. 
These lanes and the streets already 
mtntioned were the only ones in the 
settlement previous to the year 1800. 

In 1802 the road extending from the 
north end of what is now Lake street 
to near Talcott street was discon- 
tinued as a public highway and a new 
road was opened, which afterward be- 
came successively known as the Owe- 
go and Ithaca turnpike, Ithaca street, 
and North avenue. The next year a 
bridge was built across the Owego 
creek, and all the travel from Owego 
west went by Back street, the old 
river road having been abandoned. 

The old "Owego and Ithaca Turn- 
pike Road Comi)any" was incorporated 
by an act of the legislature, passed 
April 6, 1807. Its directors were 
•Vlason Wattles, .lohn Hollenback, 
Lemuel Brown, Eleazer Dana, Charles 
Pumpelly, John H. Avery, Nathan 



350 
Camp, Jabez Brown, John Smith. 
Archer Green, Eleazer Smith, and 
others. The turnpike was surveyed 
bj' Richard W. Pelton and laid out by 
Gen. John Tillotson and Col. Henry 
Bloom, two of the commissioners ap- 
pointed by the governor of the state 
for that purpose. The date of the 
survey was April 18, 1808. The stock 
of the company consisted of 2,000 
shares of $20 each. Mr. Dana, Mr. 
Avery, and John Smith were appoint- 
ed by the act a committee to receive 
subscriptions. 

The rates of toll established were 
as follows: For every wagon with 
two horses, or oxen, twelve and one- 
half cents, and three cents for each 
additional animal; for every one 
horse cart, six cents; for every coach, 
coachee, phaeton or curricle, with two 
liorses, twenty-five cents; for every 
sulky, chair, chaise, or other one 
horse pleasure carriage, twelve and 
one-half cents; for every cart drawn 
by two oxen, eight cents, and four 
cents for each additional ox; for 
every horse and rider or led horse, 
tour cents; for every sleigh or sled, 
six cents; for every score of horses, 
cattle or mules twenty cents, or of 
hogs or sheep, six cents; and for 
every two horse stage or wagon, 
twelve and one-half cents. 

The Owego terminus of the turn- 
pike was Main street, now the foot of 
-Vorth avenue. The original intention 
of the turnpike company had been to 
enter Owego by the Cayuga lake road 
( McMaster street.) At that time 
there were two taverns in Owego. 
One — the Bates tavern — occupied the 
site of the present Ahwaga house; the 
other, the Laning tavern, afterward 



351 
known as the Franklin house, stood 
on the north side of Front street, near 
the Court street corner, Capt. l.uke 
Bates and Gen. John Laning were the 
respective jiroprietors of the two 
taverns. There was great rivalry ai 
that time between the two houses, 
and each landlord wanted the road to 
terminate in the vicinity of his house. 
The contest became so bitter that the 
turnpike directors finally compro- 
mised by fixing upon the present foot 
of North avenue, which was about 
equally distant from each of the two 
taverns, as the terminus. 

The first turnitike gate was three 
and one-half miles north of this vil- 
lage, in the town of Tioga. The next 
was Smith's gate, at the "half way 
house," in the town of Candor, About 
the year 1832, Geo. Bacon, of Owego; 
Horace Giles, of Spencer, and Lucius 
Humphrey, of Candor, were the high- 
way commissioners, appointed by the 
governor of the state. 

At that period the turnpikes had be- 
come in bad condition. A resident of 
the Montrose turnpike, living six 
miles south of Owego, complained to 
the commissioners of the bad state of 
that turnpike. and called upon them to 
examine it. The result was that the 
commissioners tore down the gate of 
the Montrose turnpike, which gate 
was four miles south of Owego, and 
soon afterward threw the gates of the 
Owego and Ithaca turnpike open free 
to the public, and they were never 
afterward closed. 

After the great fire of September, 
1849, an effort was made to have 
North avenue extended down to Front 
street, but there was such a bitter op- 
position on the part of those owning 



352 

property in Lake street, who knew 
tliat such extension would greatly de- 
preciate the value of their lots, that 
the project was abandoned. 

The next street opened was the one 
now known as Ross street, which was 
laid out by Asa Camp and John R. 
l-rake, commissioners of highways, 
November 18, 1812, and was for sev- 
eral years known as the "upper cross 
street," it being then in the extreme 
eastern limits of the village. 

On the 26th of Februar>-, 1821, a 
street known as Fourth (now Fox) 
street was laid out by William Pum- 
pelly and Elisha Bundy, commission- 
ers of highways. As surveyed it 
crossed where Paige street is now 
and continued on east for some dis-' 
tance, and finally turned olT diagonally 
across the lots until it intersected 
Main street. 

In 1810, Lemuel Brown and Abijah 
Foster, commissioners of highways, 
had laid out a road running from the 
river road to Back street, near where 
Paige street now runs. The road was 
abandoned in 1820, and that portion 
of the street now known as Paige 
street extending from Front to Main 
street was surveyed and laid out. 

The village of Owego was incor- 
porated by an act of the state legisla- 
ture April 4, 1827. On the 4th day of 
the following June, a meeting of free- 
holders was held at the old court house 
for the purpose of organization. 
William Piatt and Eleazer Dana, jus- 
tices of the peace, held the election, 
and Ezra S. Sweet was appointed 
clerk. James Pumpelly, Eleazer Dana. 
William A. Ely, Harmon Pumpelly. 
and .lonathan Piatt were chosen trus- 
tees. 



353 

The trustees at once took measures 
to put the streets in good order. On 
July 3 a meeting of the taxable in- 
habitants was again held at the court 
house, when the trustees presented an 
exhibit of the improvements which 
they deemed it expedient to make, 
and the sum of $300 was voted for the 
purpose of improving the streets and 
making sidewalks. 

The few streets that had been laid 
out were crooked and but little better 
than lanes. Houses, which had been 
built before the street lines were 
surveyed, were in some instances 
standing where the sidewalks were to 
run. These houses had to be removed, 
usually against the wishes of the 
owner, and frequently not until after 
the aid of the law had been invoked — 
and in more than one instance while 
their work was in progress, builders 
were stopped, they having set their 
buildings beyond the street line. The 
village streets were designated as fol- 
lows: 

The river road from William street 
to Ross street was named Front 
street. The street which had been 
variously known as Back street. Sec- 
ond street and Main street was called 
Main street. It extended from Mc- 
Master street to Ross street. 

The street at the east end of the 
village, which had been known as 
"the upper cross street," was named 
Ross street. It was so named in 
honor of Major Horatio Ross, a mer- 
chant, who lived in the house, which 
is still standing on the southwest cor- 
ner of Front and Ross streets. At the 
time the street was first opened, in 
1812, the house was occupied by Dr. 
Samuel Barclay. This house was built 



354 
!),\ Ur. Barclay, and was successively 
uwned by Major Ross, Charles Tal- 
cott, Thomas Farringtoii, and Lien- 
tenant B. W. Loring. 

That portion of Paige street ex- 
tending from Front to Main streets 
was named Leonard street, in honor of 
Stephen B. I^eonard. who lived in a 
house which stood on the southeast 
corner of that street and Front street, 
and it was so called as late as 1837. 
From Main to Fox streets, the same 
street was called Paige street, in 
honor of Dr. Joel S. Paige, who lived 
on the northeast corner of Main and 
Paige streets. 

Dutch alley now known as Church 
street, was a narrow lane. It extended 
only from Front to Main street, and 
was named Church alley by the trus- 
tees. 

The old Ithaca and Owego turnpike 
road, now called North avenue, was 
not then a street. 

The street now called Lake street 
was named Ithaca street. The latter 
name was afterward given to the 
street now called North avenue. 

There was for many years an ark 
yard on the bank of the river near 
the foot of the street now known as 
William street, on which account, 
probably, the trustees called that 
street Ark street. 

These were the only thoroughfares 
recognized as streets by the board of 
trustees. There were no sidewalks, 
with the exception of narrow wooden 
ones in front of some of the stores, 
and the pathways, which were fre- 
quently on but one side of the street, 
were uneven, ungraded, and followed 
the natural course of the ground. 



The first sidewalks laid l)y order of 
the trustees were as follows: The en- 
tire length of the north side of Froftt 
street; on the west side of Church 
alley; on the west side of Ithaca (now 
Lake) street; on the west side of the 
public square; on the north side of 
Main street from where the lot on 
which the new grade school building 
now stands to Mrs. John Laning's 
house, which stood near the present 
corner of Main street and Central 
avenue, and on the west side of the 
turn]nke to the Presbyterian meeting 
house, which stood where the jiresent 
church now stands. But little atten- 
tion was paid to the order of the 
trustees, and but few sidewalks were 
laid. The only ones built were in 
front of the business places, and they 
were narrow and constructed of 
planks, laid lengthwise. 

Front street, from Church to Court 
street was first iiaved with cobble 
stones in the summer of 1S39, by 
James Erwin, of Smithville, Chenango 
Co.. who also paved Lake street in the 
fall of the next year. 

In the fall of 1S;16, the board of 
trustees decided to have a new sur- 
vey and map of the village made. 
Stephen Dexter came from Ithaca for 
th&t puri)ose and made the survey 
and ma]). In running his lines, Mr. 
Dexter cut off in many instances land 
from the door yards of some of the 
property owners, which caused some 
dissatisfaction. But his survey was 
correct and the street lines as now 
existing are in accordance with his 
map. The map was filed in the county 
clerk's office, whence it was borrowed 
or stolen, many years ago. Mr. Dex- 
ter always believed that it was de- 



356 

stroyed by some property owner who 
had suffered by his survey. 

Church alley was private property 
until 1836, the land being owned by 
Charles Pumpelly and Latham A. 
Burrows. They deeded the property 
to the village as a public street in 
September of that year, and in con- 
sideration were exempted from all ob- 
ligations to make sidewalks or flag 
the street. The name of the alley was 
at the same time changed to Church 
street. The extension of Church 
street from Main street to the Pres- 
byterian church yard was afterward 
agitated, but it was not made until 
1846. The street was surveyed and 
laid out by Charles R. Coburn, who 
was afterward a teacher in the Owego 
academy, and subsequently state su- 
lierintendent of schools in Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Main street did not for many years 
extend farther east than its present 
junction with Spencer avenue. East 
of that point the land was covered 
with scrub oak trees. It was after- 
ward extended past Paige street to 
about where the Catholic church now 
is, and when the village was incor- 
porated its eastern termination was 
at its junction with Ross street. It 
was proposed, in 1837, to widen it to 
66 feet from Church street east, but 
as that would necessitate the removal 
of some of the houses owned by 
Charles Pumpelly and others, between 
Church and Paige streets, it was made 
only 64 feet wide. 

Main street was extended through 
G. W. Hollenback's lots to .lohn 
street, .lune 17, 1850, and from John 
street to the east bounds of the cor- 
l.oration, in April, 1854, and a street 



357 

was at the same time ordered to he 
laid out from the east termination of 
the extension to the Lisle road. Main 
street from McMaster street to the 
Owego creek bridge was not regularly 
laid out as a highway until June, 1838, 
by the commissioners of highway of 
the town of Owego. 

In May, 1837, the trustees decided 
to open a street three rods wide from 
North avenue to Paige street. Tht^ 
land was owned by Charles Pum])elly, 
who objected to having a street 
opened through his property and re- 
fused to move his fences. Owing to 
his opposition, the street was not 
opened until .June, 1838, when the 
l)athmaster, in pursuance of orders, 
tore down the fences and Temple 
street was opened to the public. 

This street was for several years 
known as Third street. Its name was 
changed to Temple street in honor of 
.lotham Temple, a blacksmith, who 
lived a little west of where the brick 
school house in Temple street now 
stands. Temple's shop was on the 
west side of North avenue, a little 
south of Temple street. 

Temple was evidently something of 
a humorist. In an advertisement in 
the Gazette, dated April 25, 1839, an- 
nouncing that he had purchased 
Samuel Babcock's blacksmith shop, he 
signs his advertisement, "Jotham 
Temple, Anvil Organist for the Peo- 
ple." 

Temple street was extended from 
North avenue west to McMaster 
street Jan. 24, 1853. At that time the 
land from North avenue to Central 
avenue was like a deep ditch and it 
required much filling to bring the sur- 



358 

face up to a level with the rest of the 
street. 

The old Ithaca and Owego turnpike, 
which was for a time commonly 
known as Turnpike street, was, as has 
already been mentioned, called Ithaca 
street. In reciprocation, one of the 
principal streets in Ithaca was called 
Owego street. March 3, 1842, Ithaca 
street was surveyed by Stephen Dex- 
ter, and on the 8th of the same month 
its name was changed to North ave- 
nue. In retaliation for the change, 
the authorities of Ithaca a few years 
afterward changed the name of Owego 
street in Ithaca to State street. 

In 1878, the board of trustees, to 
gratify a whim of Dr. James Wilson, 
who was the owner of several brick 
stores in North avenue, changed the 
name of the street to Broadway. This 
absurdity was displeasing to nearly 
everybody, and the street continued to 
1)6 called North avenue. The village 
newspapers invariably mentioned the 
street by its old name. March 28, 
1881, a petition, requesting the restor- 
ation of the name of North avenue to 
the street, was presented to the board 
of trustes, and granted. 

Fox street was so named in honor 
of Capt. Sylvenus Fox, who lived at 
the southeast corner of that street and 
North avenue. In May, 1841, Stephen 
Dexter surveyed the street and re- 
duced its width from four to three 
rods. The street, as then surveyed, 
extended from Paige street to the old 
Cayuga and Susquehanna railroad 
track, which extended down througli 
the village a little east of where Cen- 
tral avenue now is. In 1851 an un- 
successful effort was made to have 
the trustees extend Fox street east to 



359 
(ireen street. The street was not ex- 
tended west to Mc Master street until 
1S57. 

Dog alley, sometimes known as 
Hickory street, was a "cul de sac" ex 
tending from Main street a few rods 
north. It was also sometimes called 
Duncan street from the house oi 
William Duncan being in the street. 
The name of Dog alley was naturally 
unpleasing to the residents of the 
street, and in February, 1S4S, they ap 
plied to the village trustees to have 
the alley regularly laid out as a 
street. In connection therewith they 
wanted another street opened, to ex 
tend from the north end, which was 
then where the Temple street corner 
now is, east to the old railroad ( now 
Central avenue). Nothing was done 
in the matter until November, 1850, 
when the alley was widened to 43 feet 
and its name changed to Liberty 
street. The street was extended north 
to Fox street in August, 1857. 

John street from Main to Front 
street was opened June 17, 1850, 
through lands of George W. Hollen- 
back, who named the street in honor 
of his uncle, John Hollenback, who at 
the time of his death was the owner 
of much of the land in that part of 
the village. When Main street was 
extended from John street east, April 
17, 1854, Fulton street was opened. 

Farm street was laid out in May, 
1858. Walnut street, now known as 
Division street, was opened in Sep- 
tember of the same year. The land 
for these streets was given to the vil- 
lage by George W. Hollenback. There 
is, or was, another Division street in 
the western part of the village, ex 
tending from Main street near the 



360 

electric light plant north and nearly 
•parallel with the canal that supplies 
the plant with water power. 

Tinkham street was opened from 
North avenue to Spencer avenue in 
May, 1855, and so named in honor of 
Samuel Standish Tinkham, who lived 
at the corner of that street and North 
avenue. April 28, 1856, the name was 
changed to Chestnut street. 

Forsyth street was a lane twenty- 
four feet wide. When it was laid out 
as a street xVIay 4, 1857, it was wid- 
ened to forty feet. At the time the 
street was laid out Elisha Forsyth 
had a crop of corn growing on a part 
of the land which was required for the 
street, which land he had rented for 
two years. He released his claim to 
the land on condition that the street 
should be named Forsyth street, and 
it was so named. 

Spencer avenue at its south end 
covers what was for many years a 
large pond of water, supplied by a liv- 
ing spring. There had been a lane 
from Main to Temple street, a little 
east of the present avenue, which lane 
was closed several years before the 
avenue was opened. The land was 
owned by Charles Pumpelly. The 
portion of the present avenue extend- 
ing from Temple to Fox streets was 
for many years a lane two rods wide, 
known as Furnace lane. This lane 
was so called as it led to an iron 
foundry, or furnace, which stood in 
Main street in the southwest corner 
of what is now the M. E. church 
property. This furnace was known as 
the Owego furnace and was conducted 
by Joel Smedley & Co. Furnace lane 
was surveyed by Stephen Dexter in 



361 

.Inly. IS 53, and accepted as a street 
Aug. 16. 185S. 

At the north end of the lane lived 
several Irish Catholic families, and 
the street was named St. Patrick 
street, in honor of their patron saint. 
St. Patrick street was extended south 
from Temple street to Main street in 
May, 1863, and was made forty feer 
wide. At a meeting of the village 
trustees in 1870 there was some talk 
of changing the name of the street. 
VVakely Spencer, the street commis- 
sioner, happened to be present, and, 
as a joke, Ira A. Post, one of the trus- 
tes, moved that its name should be 
changed to Spencer avenue. His 
motion was seriously considered and 
adopted, and the street has ever since 
been known by that name. 

Previous to the completion of the 
New York and Erie railroad to Owego. 
in 1849. John R. Drake owned a large 
amount of land on both sides of the 
railroad extending from east of North 
avenue to the Owego creek. He had 
previously had a map made and litho- 
graphed, which was called, " A Map 
of Drake's Reservation in the Village 
of Owego." On this map his entire 
property was laid out into squares 
and streets. It was his intention to 
build up the village on what is known 
as "the flats," taut his design was 
frustrated by a stroke of paralysis, 
which rendered him incapable of 
carrying his intentions into execution. 
To all these streets except one he 
gave the names respectively of his 
son, his daughters, and a granddaugh- 
ter. The streets on this map extend- 
ing north and south were Arianna, 
Theodore, and Charlotte streets. 
Those running east and west were 



362 
Adtiline and Deli)hine streets and 
West avenue. All of these streets ex- 
cept Harriet, Arianna, and Theodore 
streets were subsequently accepted 
and laid out by the village trustees. 
Adaline and Charlotte streets were 
released to the village by judge 
Drake's heirs May. 12, 1864. West 
avenue was accepted July 11 of the 
same year, and Harriet street July 
:;i, 1ST6. 

A quit claim deed of Delphine street 
(named in honor of Mrs. Harmon 
Funipelly) was made by Theodore 
JJrake to the village in August, 1863. 
The street was regularly laid out in 
May, 1872. 

This street, as surveyed began at 
North avenue a little south of the 
United States hotel and crossed the 
U., L. & W. railroad track. In June of 
the same year a petition, signed by 
22 taxpayers, was presented to the 
board of trustees, praying that that 
part of the street between McMaster 
street and North avenue might be 
opened to travel. The trustees, ac- 
cordingly,passed a resolution authoriz- 
ing the opening of the street across 
the railroad track. To prevent the 
carrying into effect of this resolution 
and in order to retain possession ot 
the land, the railroad company ob- 
tained an in.iuuction prohibiting such 
extension until the matter might be 
legally settled. Soon afterward the 
company caused an engine house, 
large enough to contain a locomotive, 
to be built in the centre of the pro- 
posed extension of the street. The 
street from North avenue to McMas- 
ter street was, consequently, not regu- 
larly opened as a public street, but 
several years later the engine house 



363 

was removed, and the street is now 
open for public use. 

East Temple street was originally 
known as Patch street, so called on 
account of Timothy P. Patch, an 
Owego merchant owning Jand in that 
street. Later its name was changed 
to Bell street, in honor of Joseph C. 
Bell, who lived on the northeast cor- 
ner of that street and Paige street 
and who was a member of the board 
of village trustees in 1840. It was 
regularly laid out as a street as far 
as Green street in August, 184;j, 
(ireen street was laid out at the same 
time. In February, 1S5;>, Bell street 
was extended from Green street east 
forty feet, and thence across the Erie 
railroad tracks to Erie street in April, 
1880. The name of the street was 
changed to East Temple street in 
1884, a majority of the residents of 
that street having presented a peti- 
tion to the trustees asking for such 
change. 

Erie street was laid out in .January, 
1859, and South Depot and Nortli 
Depot streets in May, 18.')!. Little 
•John street named in honor of judge 
Drake and so called to distinguish it 
from John street — was also laid out in 
May, 1851. It has been for many 
years generally known as John R. 
street. 

Central avenue occupies the ground 
where the old Ithaca and Owego rail- 
road ran previous to 1850, It was 
widened, surveyed, and laid out as a 
street in May. 1862. 

Talcott street, so named in honor of 
George Talcott, who lived on its north 
side, near North avenue, and who 
owned the land through which it was 
opened, was laid out in August, 1862. 



364 

Hill street takes its name froiu 
James Hill, the owner of the land 
through which it was oi)ened in May, 
1870. 

East avenue was known as "the 
mountain road." In 1840 it was laid 
out as a highway by the commission- 
ers of highways of the town of Owego. 
The road was cut in the side of the 
hill by Patrick Geary. All that por- 
tion of this road lying within the vil- 
lage limits was recorded as a street in 
February, 1872, and named East ave- 
nue. 

The land through which Franklin 
street extends was owned by Gurdon 
Hewitt the elder, who sold to Hiram 
A. Beebe the first building lot on the 
east side of the street when it was 
opened. Mr. Hewitt asked Mr. Beebe 
to give the street a name, and as Mr. 
Beebe was editor of the Owego Ga- 
zette and a printer, he named the 
street Franklin street, in honor of that 
illustrious member of the craft, Ben- 
jamin Franklin. 



365 
The Military History of the Village 
for Sixty Years from the Organiza- 
tion of Tioga County in 1791 to 
1850, with Some Account of the 
Commanding Officers from Col. 
Samuel Tubbs to Col. Nathaniel W. 
Davis, together with Notes of the 
Days of the Old General Trainings. 

I'he first act creating a state militia 
in the state of New York was entitled 
an act "for the better regulating the 
militia of the colony of New York" 
and was passed by the legislature and 
became a law April 1, 1775. This act 
required all able-bodied male citizens 
between the ages of 16 and .50 years 
to be enrolled from and after the first 
day of the following May under pen- 
alty of five shillings for any person 
who should not be so enrolled and 
three shillings additional for every 
month such person should remain un- 
listed. 

A New England shilling was equiva- 
lent in value to twelve and one-half 
cents. In Owego business men gener- 
ally kept their accounts in shillings 
and sixpences and marked the selling 
l)rices of their goods in this currency. 
This continued until the breaking out 
of the civil war in 1861, when the 
great amount of pai)er currency in de- 
nominations of from five to seventy- 
five cents issued by the government 
placed a premium on silver causing 
it to be withdrawn entirely from trade 
and most of it went into the melting 
pot. In those days half dimes, dimes, 
and quarters were few in comparison 
with the sixpences, shillings, and two 
shilling pieces, which by continuous 
use had become worn so thin that the 
lettering, etc., on them had been ob- 



366 

literated and they resembled small 
discs of white metal more than money. 

The act of 1775 provided that militia 
companies should be ordered out for 
exercise once in each year, and that 
the number of troops to each company 
should be fifty. At that time much of 
this state had not been settled by white 
people and there were only sixteen 
counties in the state. 

From 1777 until 1822 nearly every 
civil, military, and judicial officer of 
the commonwealth in this state was 
appointed by a body of four men, 
known as the Council of Appointment. 
This council was composed of one sen- 
ator from each of four districts, 
known, respectively, as the southern, 
middle, eastern, and western district. 
The senator from each district was 
openly nominated and appointed each 
year by the assembly, no senator be- 
ing eligible two years successively. 
The governor was a member of this 
council and authorized to act as gene- 
ral and commander-in-chief of all the 
militia and also as admiral of the 
luivy. Immense power was wielded by 
this body and it became an irrespon- 
sible, powerful, and offensive political 
machine. It finally became so unpop- 
ular with the people that it was 
abolished in 1821 by the constitutional 
convention without a dissenting voice. 

The rank of colonel was abolished 
in 1782 by act of the legislature and 
provision made that each regiment 
should be commanded by three field 
officers, a lieutenant-colonel com- 
mandant and two majors. The lieu- 
tenant-colonel commandant continued 
as the ranking officer all through the 
war of 1812 and until 1816, when a 
new law was passed specifying that 



367 

fach regiment should be commanded 
by a colonel, a lieutenant-colonel, and 
one major. Under the new law the 
lieutenant-colonels became colonels, 
and the first majors became lieuten- 
ant-colonels. 

The next act, passed in 17S6, "to 
regulate the militia" provided that 
every able-bodied white male citizen 
between 16 and 45 years, with certain 
exceptions, should be enrolled for mili- 
tary duty within three months and 
must provide himself at his own ex- 
pense with "a good musket and fire- 
lock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, a 
pouch with a box therein to contain 
not less than twenty-four cartridges, 
two spare flints, a blanket, and knap- 
sack and shall appear so armed, ac- 
coutred when called out to exercise 
or duty, except when called out to ex- 
ercise only, he may appear without 
blanket and knapsack." Commissioned 
officers were required to be armed 
with "a sword or hanger and an 
espontoon." 

The militia was required to rendez- 
vous four times a year for training 
and discipline, twice by companies, 
once by regiments and once by bri- 
gades. For non-appearance at a gen- 
eral training a non-commissioned offi- 
cer or private was fined twenty shil- 
lings for each day of neglect to appear 
at the brigade rendezvous, and eight 
shillings at a regimental or company 
parade, and if not armed and equipped 
according to law, one shilling for every 
deficiency, and for appearing without a 
musket four shillings. Quakers were 
exempt from military duty on ])ayment 
of forty shillings a year. 

The uniforms of general officers 
were dark blue coats with buff fac- 



368 

ings, linings, collars, and cuffs; yel- 
low buttons, and buff underclothes. 

Regimental officers wore dark blue 
coats with white linings and white 
buttons. 

Non-commissioned officers and pri- 
vates wore dark blue coats with white 
linings, and staff officers dark blue 
coats with buff collars and linings and 
yellow buttons. 

Tioga county was erected in 1791 
from Montgomery county. May 8, 
1792, congress passed an act establish- 
ing a uniform militia throughout the 
United States for the national defence. 
The law provided that within one year 
after its passage every free able- 
bodied white male citizen of the sev- 
eral states and resident therein of the 
age of eighteen years and under the 
age of forty-five years, must be en- 
rolled by the commandant of the 
company in whose company district 
he might reside. The law also made 
it the duty of the commanding officer 
that every muster, whether by bat- 
talion, regiment, or single company, to 
cause the militia to be exercised and 
trained agreeable to the rules and dis- 
cipline approved and established by 
congress. All subsequent state militia 
legislation was for many years based 
on this act of 1792. 

Soon after the passage of this act 
Gov. George Clinton formed the mi- 
litia of Tioga county into one regiment 
and two battalions and appointed Sam- 
uel Tubbs lieutenant-colonel com- 
mandant. Col. Tubbs had in 1789 
been major of three companies of mi- 
litia in the town of Chemung, then in 
Montgomery county and in 1791 in 
Tioga county. 



369 

Oringh Stoddard, of the town of 
Union, Broome county, was appointed 
major commandant of one of tlie bat- 
talions and Benjamin Hovey of the 
other. In major Stoddard's battalion 
one of the companies was composed 
of Owego men under captain Luke 
Bates and another of residents of the 
town of Tioga under captain Samuel 
Ransom. 

In 1793 major Hovey's battalion 
was formed into a regiment, compris- 
ing the militia residing easterly of the 
Chenango river and the Tioughnioga 
branch thereof north of the town of 
Chenango. Major Hovey was pro- 
moted to lieutenant-colonel command- 
ant of the new regiment. 

In 1797 the militia of Tioga county 
was formed into a brigade, of which 
Col. Oringh Stoddard was appointed 
brigadier-general. David Pixley, of 
the town of Tioga,succeeded Col. Stod- 
dard as lieutenant-colonel command- 
ant of Stoddard's regiment. 

In 1802 Col. Pixley resigned his com- 
mission and Samuel Seymour was ap- 
pointed lieutenant-colonel command- 
ant in his place. 

In 1807 Col. Seymour resigned and 
was succeeded by Asa Camp, of Camp- 
ville. In 1809 Col. Camp resigned and 
Jacob Swartwood was appointed his 
successor. 

This i-egiment was in 1812 known as 
the 95th regiment. Col. Swartwood 
was promoted to brigadier-general of 
the 18th brigade of infantry in 1819 
to succeed Matthew Carpenter, who 
had been promoted to major general 
of the 20th division, composed of the 
50th and 18th brigades. George 
Fisher, of Spencer, succeeded Col. 



370 
Swartwood as colonel of the 95th regi- 
ment. 

Col. Asa Camp, in whose honor 
Campville was named, was born in 
Rhode Island and came from Columbia 
county, N. Y., in 1789 to the town of 
Vestal, Broome county, and in 1792 
removed to Apalachin. Thence he 
went to Campville, where he built the 
first tavern in 1800. He was a sei-- 
geant in the revolutionary war, and is 
said to have been a witness to Andre's 
execution and to have assisted in dig- 
ging his grave. Wilkinson's "Annals 
of Binghamton," published in 1840 
mentions Col. Camp as one of the first 
settlers between Union and Owego. It 
says : 

"Asa Camp is still living, where, it 
is believed, he first settled; now very 
aged. He served in the revolutionary 
war, in the capacity of sergeant, four 
years; commanded at Fort Frederick, 
on the Mohawk; and with fifteen men 
in the fort effectually re])elled two 
hundred Indians and tories. When a 
flag was sent in for them to surrender, 
sergeant Camp sent word back, 'that 
Yankees lived there, and if they got 
the fort they must get it by the hard- 
est.' He was in the battle at White 
Plains; was in one battle on the sea, 
near the banks of Newfoundland, and 
was also at Valley Forge." 

In "New York in the Revolution," 
Asa Camp's name appears in the list 
of men in Col. Philip VanCortland's 
2d regiment and also in Col. James 
Holmes's 4th regiment. 

Col. Camp was supervisor of the 
town of Owego In 1817 and 1818 and 
held the office of justice of the peace 
and other town offices. He died at 
Campville July 17. 1848. 

In 1821 a new regiment was organ- 
ized from the 95th regiment. In 
March, 1810, Oliver Huntington, of 



371 
Owego, who had been quartermaster 
and afterward second major in Col. 
Asa Camp's regiment, was appointed 
Meutenant-colonel commandant of a 
new regiment. This regiment was 
known as the 53d regiment and was 
commanded by Tioga county men du- 
ring its existence. It was a part of the 
41st brigade in the 19th division, state 
infantry. 

In 1812 Col. Huntington was pro- 
moted to brigadier-general of this bri- 
gade, and lieutenant-colonel Ansel 
Goodrich, of Owego, was promoted to 
succeed him as colonel. In 1816 Gen. 
Huntington was appointed sheriff of 
Tioga county and resigned his com- 
mission, and Col. Goodrich was ap- 
pointed to succeed him as brigadier- 
general of the 41st brigade. Gen. 
Goodrich was in 1818 promoted to ma- 
jor general of the 19th division, which 
was composed of the 36th and 41st bri- 
gades, and served until his death in 
1820. 

John Laning, of Owego, succeeded 
Gen. Goodrich as colonel of the o3d 
regiment, and Anson Camp, also of 
Owego, was api^ointed lieutenant- 
colonel. In 1819 Col. Laning was pro- 
moted to brigadier-general of the 41st 
brigade, to succeed Gen. Goodrich, and 
Elijah Shoemaker, of Nichols, became 
colonel of the 53d regiment. When 
Gen. Laning died, in 1820, Col. Camp 
was appointed to succeed him as 
brigadier-general. 

Extended mention has already been 
made of Gens. Huntington, Goodrich, 
Laning, and Camp in the biographical 
part of these papers. 

Elijah Shoemaker was a son of Dan- 
iel Shoemaker, an early settler of the 
town of Nichols in 1797, and was born 



372 

July 28, 1789. He was a farzner. He 
became a man of some importance in 
his town, and when he was appointed 
colonel he held the offices of justice 
of the peace and commissioner of 
deeds. He was sheriff of Tioga county 
in 1825-8, and in January, 1832, he be- 
came a judge of the Tioga county 
court. In 1844 he sold his farm and 
removed to Illinois, where he died the 
next year. 

In January, 1828, a new militia law 
was passed by the legislature. The 
age for military duty was fixed at 
from 18 to 45 years, as before. The 
uniforms prescribed by the law were 
the same as United States uniforms, 
but round hats with feathers and the 
American cockade were deemed a 
part of the full uniform for a captain 
or a subaltern, and blue pantaloons at 
all seasons of the year were consid- 
ered a part of the full uniform. 

The time for "training, discipline 
and improving in martial exercise" 
was fixed for companies on the first 
Monday in September at 9 a. m. and 
for regiments or separate battalions 
between Sept. 1 and Oct. 15. The 
fine for non-appearance on a company 
I)arade was $2 for non-commissioned 
officers, musicians, and privates, and 
for a regimental or battalion j)arade 
not less than $.2 nor more than $5. 
For failure to appear when called into 
actual service the penalty was not 
more than twelve months' pay nor 
less than one month's pay. 

Joseph Belcher, of Berkshire, was 
appointed to succeed judge Shoe- 
maker as colonel of the 53d regiment 
in January, 1832. In August, 1833, 
Samuel Rockwood, of Owego, who had 
been lieutenant-colonel of the regi- 



373 

inent, was promoted to colonel. Col. 
Rockwood commanded the regiment 
until July, 1837, when he was suc- 
ceeded by Elijah Belcher. 

Joseph and Elijah Belcher were 
brothers, sons of Joseph Belcher, and 
were born at New Preston, Conn., 
Joseph in 1794 and Elijah m 1800. 
The family removed from Comiect'icut 
to Berkshire in 1805. In early life 
Elijah Belcher was a wool-carder and 
cloth-dresser and when 21 years of 
age owned one-half of a mill in Berk- 
shire. He afterward engaged in lum- 
bering and built and operated a tan- 
nery and sawmill. In 1834 he began 
a general mercantile business at New- 
ark Valley. Later he manufactured 
friction matches, and still later he 
made barrels, butter tubs, etc. He 
served three terms as a justice of the 
peace. His first military appointment 
was received from Gen. DeWitt Clin- 
ton, who appointed him cornet of 
cavalry in 1827. He rose by promo- 
tion to captain in 1829, to lieutenant- 
colonel in 1833, and to colonel in 1837. 
In September, 1840, he became briga- 
dier-general of the 41st brigade of in- 
fantry. He died at Newark Valley 
Dec. 11, 1879. His brother, Joseph 
Belcher, was supervisor of Berkshire 
in 1831. 

Col. Samuel Rockwood came from 
Glastonbury, Conn. He owned and 
conducted the red mills, north of this 
village. He sold the proi)erty to 
Jonathan Piatt some time previous to 
1850 and removed to Belvidere, 111., 
where he engaged in farming. His 
first wife was Augusta Goodrich, a 
daughter of Jeremiah Goodrich. She 
was one of the organizers of St. Paul's 



374 

Episcopal church. She died Sept. 17. 
1839. 

May 24, 1840, while Elijah Belcher 
was still colonel of the 53d regiment, a 
new militia law went into effect. By 
this act the fine upon conviction for 
non-appearance on general training 
day was fixed at not to exceed $1 and 
at a regimental or battalion parade at 
not more than $2. 

Benoni B. Curry, lieutenant-colonel 
of the 53d regiment, succeeded Gen. 
Belcher as colonel in March, 1841. 
Nathaniel W. Davis was lieutenant- 
colonel under Col. Curry. Samuel A. 
Archibald was major, Hammon D. 
Pinney adjutant. Dr. Cornelius H. Cole 
quartermaster, and Dr. Horatio X. 
Eastman surgeon. 

Dr. Cole was an army surgeon in 
the civil war in Gen. Howard's 11th 
corps. He afterward lived at She- 
.shequin, Pa. 

Col. Curry was a tailor. He was 
born in Orange county in 1799 and 
came to Owego in 1824. In 1854 he 
removed to Manitowoc, Wis., and 
thence in 1866, to Pleasant Valley, X. 
.1., where he died Jan. 19. 1875. 

Dr. Hiram N. Eastman was born in 
Herkimer county, N. Y., Aug. 17, ISld. 
He graduated in 1838 from Fairfield 
medical college and began the prac- 
tice of medicine at Candor. In Jan- 
uary, 1840, he removed to Owego. He 
lived here until December, 1861, when 
he went to Geneva, N. Y., to become 
professor of Materia Medica at Ge- 
neva college. In August, 1870, he was 
appointed lecturer on Materia Medica 
and Hygiene at the University of Buf- 
falo. In Oct., 1874. he returned to 
Owego where he lived until his death 
on Oct. 7, 1879. 



375 

Xathaniel W. Davis succeeded Col. 
Curry as colonel of the 53d regiment 
in July, 1842, and commanded the 
regiment during the rest oif its ex- 
istence as a military body. 

Another militia law was passed by 
the state legislature May 13, 184G, 
dividing the state into eight military 
divisions districts, according to popu- 
lation, and providing that the major 
general highest in rank residing with- 
in the bounds of any such division 
should divide the division into two 
brigade districts, according to popula- 
tion, and each brigade district into 
four regimental districts, each regi- 
mental district to be divided by the 
colonel highest in rank into eight co n- 
pany districts. Officers then in com- 
mission were to be commanding of- 
ficers and when there was any 
equality in rank lots were to be drawn 
to decide who should remain in com- 
mand. Every officer and private was 
required to provide himself with a 
complete uniform. 

One parade was established in every 
year for six consecutive days, by bat- 
talion, regiment, or brigade, and all 
other company and regimental pa- 
rades required by the previous law 
were by this act abolished. The pa- 
rades were to be held between Aug. 
15 and Nov. 1 in each year, on any 
Monday therein. The penalty for 
neglect to appear was the forfeiture 
of annual pay and also the payment 
of $2 for every day for such neglect. 

The number of men for each com- 
pany was fixed at not more than 65, 
including all officers, musicians, and 
privates. Commanding officers were 
authorized to prohibit the sale of 
liquor within one mile of the parade 



376 

and also hucksters, auction sales, and 
gambling. 

The act provided that every person 
who should pay 75 cents to the col- 
lector of taxes on or before the day of 
the annual parade should be exempt 
from military duty during the year 
for which the amount was paid. The 
pay, when engaged in full uniform, 
was fixed as follows: Non-commis- 
sioned officers, musicians, and pri- 
vates $1 each day; commissioned of- 
ficers below the rank of captain $1.25; 
commanding officers of companies 
$1.50; field officers below colonels 
$1.75, and commanders of regi- 
ments $2. 

In 1847 the 20th brigade in the 5th 
division was commanded by brigadier- 
general Ephraim Robbins, .Jr. The 
43d regiment in that brigade was 
commanded by Col. J. C. Robie. of 
Union, and the 44th regiment by Col. 
Nathaniel W. Davis, of Owego. 

In August of that year Gen. Rob- 
bins established the following bounds 
of the 44th regimental district: "The 
county of Tioga and all that portion 
of the county of Broome south of the 
Susquehanna river and west of the 
Chenango, and all that portion of the 
town of Greene in the county of Che- 
nango west of the Chenango river." 

In September, 1848, Col. Davis 
divided his regimental district into 
eight company districts, according to 
poi)ulation, as follows: 

Co. A. The town of Owego, except 
that portion of the town stiuated east 
of the Apalachin creek and south of 
the Susquehanna river. George May- 
hew, of Apalachin, captain. 

Co. B. The towns of Tioga and 



377 

Nichols. Stephen Hollister, of Tioga, 
captain. 

Co. C. The towns of Barton and 
Spencer. John !>. Sawyer, of Barton, 
Ca]5tain. 

Co. D. The towns of Candor and 
Newark Valley. Lewis Strong, of 
Candor, captain. 

Co. E. The town of Union and that 
part of the town of Chenango situated 
west of the Chenango river and north 
of the Susquehanna river. Marshall 
Delano, of Maine, captain. 

Co. F. The town of Vestal and 
that part of the town of Conklin west 
of and south of the Susquehanna 
river, and all that part of the town of 
Chenango situated south of the Sus- 
quehanna river and all that part of 
the town of Owego situated east of 
the Apalachin creek and on the south 
side of the Susquehanna river. John 
Rounds, of Vestal, captain. 

Co. Ct. The towns of Richford, 
Berkshire, Lisle, and Nanticoke. 
Ezekiel D. Smith, of Berkshire, cap- 
tain. 

Co. H. I'he towns of Triangle, 
Barker, and all that part of the town 
of Greene situated west of the Che- 
nango .river. Myron A. Hollister, of 
Chenango Forks, captain. 

This regiment continued in exis- 
tence until 1S54. The disbandment of 
the militia at this time was largely 
due to the provision of the act of May 
13, 1847, which exempted from mili- 
tary duty every man who should pay 
on or before August first in each year 
to the town collector seventy-five 
cents. The escape from military duty 
was so cheaply purchased that nearly 
every one availed himself of the op- 
portunity to shirk what had become a 



37S 

dfsagreeable task and the days of the 
general trainings were soon at an end. 

An ineffectual attempt to organize a 
company of militia at Owego was- 
made in 1858. A meeting was held at 
the Ahwaga house for the purpose of 
organization. Gilbert C. Walker, who 
after the civil war became governor 
of Virginia, was president, James C. 
Wright secretary, and Gurdon G. Man- 
ning treasurer. Col. Chas. W, Warren 
was appointed drillmaster and Dr. 
.John B. Stanbrough assistant drillmas- 
ter. The Owego Gazette of July 22, 
1858, mentions this revival of the mili- 
tary spirit as follows: "A military 
company has already been foi-med and 
will soon appear in their beautiful 
equipage, properly officered and ready 
for martial glorj'- A roll list for an 
artillerj' company is about full and 
will soon organize and become a per- 
manent institution among the military 
forces of the state." These companies 
progressed no further than the for- 
mative period. 

Col. Davis was born May 10, 1807, at 
Weston, Conn. His father, who was 
a miller and farmer, removed to the 
town of Catherine, Schuyler county, 
N. Y., in 1820. Col. Davis studied law 
in David Woodcock's office at Ithaca 
and began practice at Owego in 18o2 
in partnership with his brother-in-law, 
Ezra S. Sweet. He was a village 
trustee in 1839, 1842, and 1847; presi- 
dent of the village in 1859 and 1860; 
chief engineer of the Owego fire de- 
])artment in 1846, 1858, 1859, and 1860; 
surrogate of Tioga county from 1840 
to 1844, and member of assembly in 
1844 and 186;^. He died at Ow^ego July 
:U, 1874. 

During the civil war Col. Davis was 



379 

active in raising volunteers, although 
he took no part in field operations. He 
recruited more than 1,500 volunteers. 
May o, 1865, after the close of the 
war, he was appointed colonel to raise 
a jegiment of infantry of the national 
guard in the county of Tioga, to be 
known as the 46th regiment, 28th bri- 
gade, 6th division. The county was 
divided into ten districts. Of these 
districts the town of Owego was 
divided into districts 1, 2, and 3. The 
town of Barton comprised district No. 
4. .Candor No. 5, Berkshire and Rich- 
ford No. 6, Spencer No. 7, Nichols No. 
8, Newark Valley No. 9, and Tioga 
No. 10. 

As this was at the close of a great 
war it was su])posed that much in- 
terest would be manifested in organ- 
izing a military company, but the 
companies were not filled and the 
regiment was not raised. 

In his centennial history of Tioga 
county, William F. Warner says of 
Col. Davis: 

"His assiduity in behalf of his 
clients was remarkable. Once having 
entered upon a case he was untiring 
in its prosecution. To him there was 
but one side to a case, nor did defeat 
by a court or .jury convince him that 
there might possibly be another. H-e 
took his case to a higher court, all 
bristling with points of exception, and 
his brief contained full citations of 
all the cases directly or remotely 
bearing ui)on the points. As a law- 
yer he stood equally well before the 
court and the jury, commanding the 
respect and attention of both." 

In an obituary written by George 
Sidney Camp and published in the 
Owego Gazette after Col. Davis's 
death, Mr. Camp says: 

"No lawyer was ever truer to his 
clients. He only espoused their cases 



380 

^ith too much zeal — a zeal so exces- 
sive that it sometimes served to blind 
his own perception and judgment. . . . 
There was nothing small-featured nor 
diminutive about him. He came up 
wholly self-educated and self-trained, 
with an energy and force of will and 
character that subdued the opposing 
force of early disadvantages. . . He 
was an exceedingly violent hater; a 
bitter and rather remorseless enem\ — 
but a very slight advance toward con- 
ciliation often converted him, at once, 
from the position of antagonism and 
hostility, Into as ardent a friend." 

In April, 1798, a new troop of horse 
was formed in Tioga county in briga- 
dier-general Oringh Stoddard's bri- 
gade, composed in equal proportions 
from the regiments commanded by 
Cols. Thomas Baldwin and David Pix- 
ley and from the battalion commanded 
by major Wm.- Whitney. Vincent 
Mathews, of Elmira, was appointed 
captain. 

Some account of Col. David Pixley 
has been given in the biographical 
I)art of these papers. Gen. Oringh 
Stoddard settled one mile east of 
Hooper, Broome county. He was one 
of the five commissioners appointed 
in 1779 by the Boston company to 
treat with the Indians hi regard to 
the tract of 230,400 acres of land 
known as the Boston ten townships, of 
which purchase he wa:s one of the pro- 
prietors. He was a brother of judge 
.lames Stoddard, who came to this 
part of the state at about the same 
time and settled in the town of Lisle, 
and who was appointed first judge of 
Broome county in 1811. Gen. Stod- 
dard's son, Briant Stoddard, was an 
associate judge of Broome county and 
a member of the assembly in 1825. 

Col. Thomas Baldwin was born Feb. 
23, 1755, at Norwich, Conn. At the 



381 
breaking out of the revolutionary war 
he joined the American army as a i)ri- 
vate in Gen. Morgan's command and 
served seven years, particii)ating in 
many battles aiid skirmishes. He was 
present at the surrender of Corn- 
wallis at Yorktown. After the war he 
emigrated with his father's family to 
the Wyoming valley in Pennsylvania, 
whence they were driven at the time 
of the massacre. After the massacre 
he joined Gen. SuMivan as a scout, was 
breveted ensign for meritorious ser- 
vice, and fought in the battle of New 
Town, where he was womided. He 
died at Elmira, Jan. 14, 1810. Col. 
Baldwin in 1789 was appointed a cap- 
tain for the town of Chemung in lieu- 
tenant-colonel Samuel Tubbs's regi- 
ment, and in 1792 was promoted to 
first major. In 1797 he was appointed 
to succeed Col. Tubbs as lieutenant- 
colonel commandant and served until 
1S03. 

Gen. Vincent Mathews came from 
Orange county, N. Y., to New Town 
(Elmira) about the year 1789, and was 
the first lawyer there. He represent- 
ed Tioga county in the asembly of 
1794-5. He was the first state sena- 
tor chosen to represent the western 
district of New York and served from 
1796 to 180?,. He was also district at- 
torney of the seventh district from 
1813 to 1815. In 1809 he was elected 
to congress. In 1820 he removed to 
Rochester, where he died. In 1792 he 
was adjutant in lieutenant-colonel 
Samuel Tubbs's regiment. In 1798 he 
was appointedcaptain of the new troop 
of horse, and in 1800 was promoted to 
major of the second squadron of cav- 
alry in the counties of Ontario, Steu- 
ben, Tioga, Onondaga, and Cayuga. 



382 
In 1809 he became lieutenant-colonel 
commandant of the 10th regiment, and 
in 1814 brigadier-general of the first 
brigade of cavalry, and remained in 
command until his death in 1820. 

In April, 1800, an act of the legisla- 
ture arranged the military of the state 
into five divisions. Tioga was one of 
the nine counties in the fifth division. 
The cavalry in the Fifth division was 
divided into two squadrons, the second 
of which was composed of Ontario. 
Steuben, Tioga, Onondaga and Cayuga 
counties, commanded by major Vin- 
cent Mathews. 

The following is the roster of a cav- 
alry company organized in Tioga 
county in 1807, copied from the origi- 
nal, which is still in existence: 

"We whose names are hereunto sub- 
scribed do enlist ourselves and hereby 
l)ecome members of the troop in the 
Second squadron of the Fifth division 
in the cavalry of the state of New 
York, commanded by Capt. Joshua 
Whitney, and in all things conform 
ourselves to the rules, regulations, and 
restrictions pointed out by the act of 
the Legislature of the state of New 
York organizing the militia of the said 
state. 

Ocfr 3d A. D., 1807. 

Aiisoii Camp Kclimnid Paleiiiere 

James PumpeHj- Joel C.aylord 

Caleb Leach. Jr. Joseph Berry 

Elias Shipman William Bell 

Elijah .Shoemaker Daniel Huiiliimtoii 

Andrew Purdy Joel Rich 

Charles Taylor W. M. Horton 

John Shoemaker Jno M. Roe 

James Herrick Slephen Ferris 

Benjamin Shoemaker .Alfred Scofield 
Jos. B. Nutter. Trumpeter 

Cai)t. Joshua Whitney came in 1786 
from Hillside, Columbia county, N. Y., 
to Binghamton with his father, whose 
name was also Joshua Whitney. Capt. 
Whitney was a merchant at Bingham- 
ton. In 1798 he was appointed first 
lieutenant of the cavalry company of 
which Vincent Mathews was captain. 



3S3 

In 1SU7 he became captain of the 
troop in the Second squadron of the 
Eighth regiment of cavah-y. He was 
promoted in 1810 to colonel of a new 
regiment of cavalry known as the loth 
regiment. 

In ISIO when Joshua Whitney was 
promoted, John H. Avery, of Owego, 
succeeded him as captain of the cav- 
alry company and served until 1817, 
wiien he was appointed major of a 
new regiment of cavalry, to be organ- 
ized from part of the Eighth regiment 
and consisting of the troops in the 
counties of Broome, Chenango, Cay- 
uga, and Cortland and to be denomi- 
nated the Thirteenth regiment of cav- 
alry. 

The cavalrymen wore dark gray 
coats, and caps with leather sides and 
bearskin tops and tht'^y carried swords 
in steel scabbards. 

The first company of artillery in 
Tioga county was organized at Owego 
in 1810. It was the first battalion of 
the Sixth regiment. David Fleming, 
of Flemingville was captain, Samuel 
W. Avery, of Owego, first lieutenant, 
and Noah Lyman second lieutenant. 
In 1812 Capt. Fleming went to fight in 
the army and Mr. Avery succeeded 
him as captain and served until 18.15, 
when he resigned and was succeeded 
by Daniel Brown. 

Capt. Fleming came from Newton, 
N. J., and settled in the town of Nich- 
ols in 1806, removing thence two yeaVs 
later to Flemingvile. In the war of 
1812 he was captain of the third com- 
pany of the Third regiment of heavy 
artillery, and established a recruiting 
rendezvous at Owego. 

The company was encamped in the 
village park under tents, awaiting or- 



384 

ders. There was some complaint 
among farmers because the soldiers 
stole their chickens at night. Some 
chickens were stolen from the hen 
house of Jacob Swingle, a blacksmith, 
who lived on the east side of the Owe- 
go and Ithaca turnpike, a few rods 
south of the Huntington creek. The 
second time that some soldiers visited 
his premises he shot at them as they 
were climbing a fence. One soldier 
was shot through the abdomen with 
buckshot, and when the company went 
to join the army the injured man died 
at Binghamton while on his way. 

In an advertisement signed by Capt. 
Fleming, dated Oct. 5, 1812, in the 
"American Parmer," the name of 
which paper was a few years later 
changed to the Owego Gazete, he of- 
ferred a bounty of $16 for every able- 
bodied man from 18 to 45 years of age 
who would enlist in the United States 
service, in addition to monthly wages 
and clothing, and when discharged af- 
ter having served five years the sol- 
dier was to receive three months' pay 
additional and 160 acres of land; and 
the comforting assurance was also 
given that in case of death the heirs 
of the soldier would be entitled to re- 
receive the extra pay and land. 

Capt. Fleming fought in several bat- 
tles, the last of which were those of 
Fort George and Erie. His son, Robert 
I J. Fleming, was 12 years old and ac- 
companied him as his waiter, and he 
was a witness of these battles and 
those at Sackett's Harbor. He also 
drove a team in his father's company, 
and was sometimes sent in pursuit of 
deserters. 

Robert L. Fleming was in 1835 elec- 
ted by a vote of the field officers briga- 



3S5 

dier-general of the tttli brigade of .\e\v 
York state artilkry, composed of regi- 
ments in Broome, Cortland, Chemung, 
Madison, Tompkins, and Tioga coun- 
ties, and he held command nine years. 
In the civil war he assisted Col. Kane 
in raising the Bucktail regiment in 
Elk county. Pa., and accompanied the 
regiment to Washington. Gen. Flem- 
ing was sheriff of Tioga county in 
1840. He died Feb. 26, 1877, at Flem- 
ingville. 

Capt. David Fleming"s wife was a 
sister of Gen. John Laning. He died 
Feb. 4, 1862, at Flemingvile. 

The uniforms of the gunners of the 
artillery company were black coats 
and high hats, with brass plate and 
feather. 

Several years after the war of 1812 
Ira Johnson, a miller at the Canawana 
flouring mill, was captain of an inde- 
pendent artillery company. The uni- 
forms were blue, trimmed with yellow 
and red. Frank Truman was a lieu- 
tenant in this company. 

The first cannon made at Owego was 
cast at the old furnace in Main street, 
near where Spencer avenue now is. 
There had been a cannon here owned 
by the state, but it was taken back to 
Albany. As the time was near the 
fourth of July and there was no big 
gun with which to celebrate, some 
men and boys raised funds to have a 
new cannon cast. This gun was a 
three-pounder, about four and one-half 
feet long, with a three or four inch 
muzzle and about eight inches in di- 
ameter at the butt end. It was not 
mounted on wheels, but was fixed on a 
block. 

At about this time the powder used 
at Owego was kept in a small pow^der 



/ 



3S6 
house about eight feet s(iuare, which 
stood in a field forty or fifty rods north 
of Main street and oi)j)Osit.e the north 
end of Ross street. 

Another and larger cannon, whicli 
was used for firing salutes on public 
occasions for many years was drawn 
by breast straps that went around the 
shoulders of the men who drew it. 
Samuel Winship and Elisha Forsyth 
were gunners for an artillery com- 
l)any and had charge of the gun. 

The cannon was used for firing sa- 
lutes on the fourth of July and other 
public days and also at political gath- 
erings. In ISoR the cannon was 
claimed by both Democrats and 
Whigs. The Whigs were preparing to 
fire it on the village park and the 
Democrats tried to prevent them. Dr. 
Ezekiel .Lovejoy placed himself at the 
muzzle of the gun and dared the 
Whigs to fire. The Whigs finally suc- 
ceeded in driving the Democrats away 
and fired the cannon, while Ezra S. 
Sweet, one of the Whig leaders, stood 
on it. 

There are not many people now liv- 
ing who remember the old days of 
general trainings at Owego, for the 
last general training was held more 
than sixty years ago. A general train- 
ing was the great holiday of the year, 
exceeding in interest the celebration 
of the fourth of July. 

The officers of each regiment were 
required to have a three days' drill in 
the month of August and the com- 
panies had a day's "company training" 
after the officers' drill. Then came 
the "general training" . in September. 
The company trainings were held at 
different places about the county, near 
where the members lived. 



3S7 

• The regiments were formed of eigiU 
ur ten companies — -each company 
numbering from sixty to a hundred 
men. About one-half of the companies 
were uniformed rifle comiianies^the 
other half ununiformed militia, with 
rifles or muskets. These militia com- 
l)anies generally appeared dressed 
with the best they had. without re- 
gard to tit or color. 

The first general trainings were 
held in the western part of this vil- 
lage where the electric light powel 
house is now. This was long before 
the hydraulic canal, or race, was built. 
Later the trainings were held where 
the Tioga county fair grounds and 
the land east of it are now. In those 
days there were no houses between 
William street and the Owego creek. 
Still later general trainings were held 
on judge Drake's flats, north of where 
the Erie railroad now runs and on 
Gen. Fleming's flat at Flemingvile and 
in the town of Tioga where St.Joseph's 
cemetery is now. 

The last trainings were held on the 
ground in east Main street where St. 
Patrick's church and the buildings 
west of it now stand and the lots east 
of the church nearly to Ross street, 
on all of which lots there were then 
no houses. At that time Col. N. W. 
Davis was commander of the 44th regi- 
ment. The last general training of 
Col. Davis's regiment was at Ihiion 
in October, 1851. 

General training day was the ex- 
citing military event of the year 
Xearly every one abandoned his occu- 
pation to be iiresent. All men 
between the ages of IS and 4.' 
years were comi)elled to go through 



388 
military drill or else pay a 
poll tax. Clergymen, men holding 
civil offices, drivers of mail coaches, 
ferrymen, college and theological stu- 
dents, and professors were exempt 
from military duty. The trainings 
were in September and October, when 
the cider season was open. Farmers 
brought barrels of new cider, tapped 
them, and did a rushing business, 
while hucksters gathered to sell cider, 
gingerbread, apples, honey, etc., to vis- 
itors, many of whom brought their 
lunches. Hawkers also sold razors, 
tinware, etc. 

At these trainings there were a few- 
companies of uniformed riflemen, but 
the great mass of soldiers appeared 
in whatever garb they pleased, but 
were required to carry a musket or a 
rifle. Sometimes young fellows would 
carry broomsticks and pitchforks in- 
stead of guns, in order to make them- 
selves ridiculous, which resulted in 
their paying fines, but they did not 
mind that so long as they had their 
fun. Sometimes fellows from the ru- 
ral districts calling themselves "Raga- 
muffins" and the "Slab Raft company" 
would burlesque the whole thing, 
dressed in all sorts of tattered cloth- 
ing and dilapidated hats, carrying old 
l)itchforks, rakes, scythes, brooms, 
and dilapidated umbrellas, with some- 
times a flintless musket. They 
marched in awkward order, some 
bare-footed, in a go-as-you-please way. 
and went through military evolutions 
in a manner suitable to their ai)pear- 
ance. A day of hilarious skylarking 
was generally ended in an evening of 
still greater hilarity, in w^hich the 
"fiowing bowl" was "tossed" ad lil)i- 
tuni. 



3S9 

. At a general training in 1834 or 
1835 a sham battle was fought on the 
field east of where the Tioga county 
fair grounds now are between a com- 
pany of gray coats and an artillery 
company. The two companies were 
drawn from the regiment and the rest 
of the regiment were spectators. 

The review at general training was 
made by the reviewing officers riding 
down the front of the regiment from 
the right to the left, the troops stand- 
ing in single file, the regimental offi- 
cers in front, the cavalcade passing to 
the left of the line and turning to the 
rear of the line returned to the right 
and to the centre of the line and 
formed in single file facing the sol- 
diers, the generals advancing a short 
distance in front of their staffs. 

The soldiers were then formed into 
platoons and marching from the right, 
passed the reviewing officers, the mu- 
sic leading. Each ofiicer saluted with 
his sword as he passed the generals — 
and each platoon presented arms. 
The review being completed, the col- 
onel performed several evolutions with 
the regiment to show that it had 
been properly trained. The regiment 
acted as escort to the reviewing offi- 
cers on their return to headquarters 
in the village. 

When the review was finished ranks 
were broken and soldiers and specta- 
tors swarmed into the village, the busi- 
ness streets of which were filled with 
a solid mass of peoi)le and peddlers' 
carts. 

There were no brass bands for regi- 
ments in the country in those days. 
The music was furnished by a martial 
band, composed usually of about eight 



390 

hass-druins, fifteen snare-drums, and 
fifteen fifes. 

One of the independent rifle com- 
panies in Owego was organized in tlie 
spring of 1825 from young men in the 
53d regiment by Stephen T.Smith, who 
came here from Orange county and 
who was landlord of the old Franklin 
house in Front street that year. He 
had a fencing school, and fencing ex- 
ercises were held in the village park. 
He also excelled as a snare-drummer. 
The uniforms of his rifle company 
were green. The advantage in joining 
an independent company was that 
members were excused from serving 
on juries, and after fifteen years' ser- 
vices were exempt from all military 
duty. 

Capt. David Nutt was for ten years 
captain of the company whose green 
coats were trimmed with yellow. 
Charles Deuel, of Catatonk, also 
raised an independent rifle company. 
The uniforms were blue coats and 
white trousers trimmed with yellow. 

About the year 1840 the general 
trainings practically ceased, the mili- 
tary having been converted into a na- 
tional or state guard. Under the new 
arrangement difficulty was exp- 
.trienced in filling the companies, and 
when later exemptions from military 
duty could be obtained upon payment 
of seventy-five cents, company train- 
ings also ceased. 

In 1856 the soldiers of the war of 
1812 in Tioga county became active in 
an effort to obtain pensions. On Feb. 
2 in that year a meeting was held at 
the old court house at the corner of 
Main and Court streets when an or- 
ganization was formed called the 
"United Brethren of the War of 1812." 



391 

Capt. David Fleming was chairman 
and Col. Henry McCormick secretary 
of the meeting. The war veterans 
present were twenty-three in number, 
as follows: 

David Fleming. Adrian Ryer.son. 

Ezra S. Madan, Stephen Uutler, 

Jolin ("dltner, Janie.s Segar, 

William Hyde. Reuben Coe. 

Marshall Anderson, Peter Jones, 

Anthony M. Tyler. Jared Foote, 

Henry McCormick, Thomas Humphrey, 

Robert t,. Fleming, Henry Primrose, 

Jo.seph Walcer, Solomon .Stewart, 

James Ireland, Moses Shoemaker, 

John .Shelman, Daniel Armstrong, 
James Baker. 

Col. McCormick was chosen presi- 
dent of the association. At the next 
.meeting in the following July resolu- 
tins were adopted, asking the mem- 
ber of congress to use his influence in 
favor of the enaction of a law grant- 
ing pensions to soldiers and officers of 
the war of 1812. 

Four years later, Jan. 5, 1860, at 
another meeting, of which Col. Mc- 
Cormick was chairman and Thomas 
Farrington secretary, resolutions were 
adopted "expressive of the sense of 
the meeting in regard to the claims of 
the soldiers of the war of 1812-15 in 
this state and in the United States." 
The old soldiers present at this meet- 
ing were as follows: 

Daniel R. Park, Lyman Perry, 

John Shelman, Silas Dodge. 

Thos. Humphrey. F:zra S. Madan, 

Daniel Armstrong, Abel B. Fuller. 

Jared Foote, Joseph Watrous, 

Anthony M, Tyler. Stephen Butler. 

I<yman Bradley, W. Hutchings. 

Resolutions were adopted asking 
congress to pass a pension law "ap- 
plicable to the soldiers of the war of 
1812-15, similar in its effects to the 
pension law existing in regard to the 
soldiers of the revolution." 

Tn March, 1867, the Owego Gazette 
published a list of the survivors of 



39Z 

the war of 1812 then living in Tioga 
county, with their ages, as follows: 

Henry McCormick . 76 Capt. Whitney . . SO 

Ezra S. Madan ... 82 Henry Priniro.se . . .SO 

Lyman Bradley ... 76 Nathaniel Ketchuni . 77 

Ezra Hall 75 Salmon Stewart ... 78 

Jared Foote 78 John Giltner .... 77 

J. Thornton 81 Billings Hodge ... 93 

Edgar Eldridge ... 79 Joel Gould 89 

Jame-s Baker .... 71 Wilbur Gould .... 67 

Daniel R. Park ... S3 Daniel Wait 82 

Peter Ross 73 Henry Jacobs .... 83 

The Gazette said: "These men 
served their country at their own ex- 
pense even to the extent of furnishing 
their own uniforms and muskets and 
have never received a cent of remun- 
eration from the government. They 
are now old, many of them are poor, 
and all are entitled to pay for their 
services and liberal pensions." 

Survivors of the war of 1812 were 
not pensioned until 1871, fifty-six 
years after the close of the war. 



393 
Early Steamboating on the Susque- 
hanna River — The Cadorus, the Pio- 
neer, and the Two Susquehannas 
Are Built for Commercial Purposes 
and to Run between Wiikes-Barre, 
Pa., and Owego — Later, the Picnic, 
the Lillie, the Owego, the Lyman 
Truman, the Marshland, and the 
Glenmary Are Built for Pleasure 
Boats, Running from Owego to Hia- 
watha Island. 

In the early days the Susquehanna 
river was the outlet for products of 
southern central New York to a south- 
ern market, and Owego the point to 
which vast quantities of lumber, plas- 
ter, salt, and other merchandise were 
brought from all over the territory 
north for shipment in arks and on 
rafts to Philadelphia and Baltimore. 
An immense amount of merchandise 
was brought down Cayuga lake in 
boats to Ithaca and conveyed thence 
to Owego by teams. 

James Pumpelly, who was in those 
days not only one of the wealth- 
iest men in this part of the state but 
also one of the most enterprising in 
public matters, was a leader in the 
project of building a railroad from 
Ithaca to Owego, to relieve the ex- 
pense of traffic by teams, and also in 
the project of building steamboats to 
run from Owego to southern points, 
to carry merchandise. 

Owego was then the highest navi- 
gable point for any steamboat that 
might be built to transport merchan- 
dise up the river, but in unusually 
high water the trip could be made as 
far as Binghamton. The first steam- 
boat was built in 1825, but the railroad 
was not opened until 1833. 



394 

The first steamboat in America was 
built only a little more than one hun- 
dred years ago. It was constructed in 
1804 by John Cox Stevens, of New Jer- 
sey, on the Hudson river. It had a 
bladed screw propeller, which was 
driven by a Watt engine, with a tubu- 
lar boiler of Stevens's own invention. 

The same year Oliver Evans had a 
stern-wheel paddle boat on the Dela- 
ware and Schuylkill rivers. It was 
driven by a double-acting high pressure 
steam engine, which was the first of 
its kind, and was geared to rotate the 
wheels, by which the boat was moved 
on land and driven in the water when 
the power was transferred to the pad- 
dle wheel at the stern. 

The paddle wheel boat was invented 
by Robert Fulton in 1803, as an experi- 
ment. The experiment proving satis- 
factory he set in operation the first 
successful paddle-wheel boat propelled 
by steam in 1807. In August of that 
year he made a trip in his boat, which 
was named "Clermont," from New 
York to Albany, making the distance 
of 150 miles in 32 hours. The return 
trip was made in 30 hours, a rate of 
just five miles an hour. The boat was 
of 160 tons burden and was the first 
one that was used for commercial pur- 
poses. 

In 1825 there was much rivalry be- 
tween the cities of Philadelphia and 
Baltimore, each seeking to divert the 
trade of the Susquehanna river valley 
from the other city. In that year three 
steamboats were built for the express 
purpose of experimenting on the Sus- 
quehanna river, to establish, if pos- 
sible, the practicability of its naviga- 
tion by steam. The "Cadorus," built 
at York Haven, Pa., by John Elgar, a 



395 
Quaker, was constructed mostly of 
sheet iron. It was sixty feet long.witli 
nine feet beam with a stern wheel, 
which was driven with a ten-horse 
power engine, capable of sending it 
against the current at a speed of four 
miles an hour. With fifty passengers 
on board she drew but eight inches of 
water. 

In the spring of 1826 Captain Elgar 
made his first trip from York Haven 
to Owego. He reached Wilkes-Barre 
April 12. His arrival was greeted with 
the ringing of bells and the firing of 
cannon. The next day an excursion of 
Wilkes-Barre citizens was made, by 
invitation of Capt. Elgar, to Forty 
Fort. The boat arrived at Towanda 
May 8, and her coming was received 
with firing of cannon and the ringing 
of bells. A public dinner was given 
for Capt. Elgar the next day, at which 
the judges of Bradford and Dauphin 
counties presided. Speeches were 
made, in which Capt. Elgar was com- 
plimented for his enterprise. A few 
days afterward he came to Owego and 
continued his trip to Binghamton. 
Upon his return he remained at Owego 
several weeks. 

Capt. Elgar experienced much diffi- 
culty in running his boat, for want of 
wood. His fuel was dry yellow pine or 
pitch knots which he bought of far- 
mers along the route, and some of it 
was drawn to the river for several 
miles. While at Owego the "Cadorus" 
was tied up in Hollenback's eddy, 
above Ross street. 

Capt. Elgar returned to York Haven, 
after, an absence of four months. In 
his report to the company he declared 
his opposition to any further attempts 
to navigate the Susquehanna river by 



396 
steam, as he believed it to be entirely 
impracticable, as the river was too 
shallow except during a few months in 
each year. 

The second steamboat, the* "Sus- 
quehanna," was built at Baltimore, 
Md., in 1825-6 by a stock company, 
which was anxious to secure the trade 
of the Susquehanna river to that city. 
She was commanded by Capt. Collins, 
of Baltimore. Her entire length from 
stem to stern was eighty-two feet and 
her stern wheels were each four and 
one-half feet in diameter. With an en- 
gine of thirty-horse power and with a 
hundred passengers on board, she 
drew twenty-two inches of water — 
fourteen more than the "Cadorus." 

The state appointed three commis- 
sioners to accompany the boat on her 
trial trip. She started on her trial 
trip up the river, arriving at Nesco- 
peck Falls, opposite Berwick, Colum- 
bia county, Pa., in the afternoon of 
May 5, 1826,. The ascent of the rapids 
at that point was looked upon as a 
difficult and hazardous undertaking. 
The three commissioners and all ex- 
cept about twenty of the passengers 
left the boat there and walked along 
the shore. 

A quantity of rich pine wood had 
been procured as fuel. With a full head 
of steam the boat slowly began the as- 
cent of the rapids. When she had 
reachde about the middle of the falls 
she struck a rock, and the boiler im- 
mediately burst with a tremendous ex- 
plosion. It was said that the engineer 
was dissatisfied with the slow pro- 
gress of the boat, so to increase the 
force of the steam he sat down on the 
safety valve, whereupon the boiler ex- 
ploded. 



397 
Two of the passengers were in- 
stantly killed and others were serious- 
ly injured. William Camp, of Owego, 
was one of the injured passengers 
and he died a few hours after the acci- 
dent. The engineer was also fatally 
Injured. There was a tradition among 
river raftsmen that Mr. Mayiiard, 
the engineer, had said that he would 
"run the boat up the falls or run her 
to hell," but this appears improbable, 
for Stewart Pierce's "Annals of Lu- 
zerne County," says of Mr. Maynard's 
death: "He died in the triumph of a 
Christian faith. He was a resident of 
Baltimore and a class-leader in the 
Methodist Episcopal church." 

The "Pioneer," the third steamboat, 
made its experimental trip on the west 
J)ranch of the Susquehanna river. Her 
officers made an adverse report, and 
for nine years no further attempt was 
made to navigate the river by steam. 

The next steamboat intended for 
commercial purposes, and the first one 
built at Owego, was constructed here 
in 1835 and she was also called the 
"Susquehanna." The object of her 
construction was to transport goods 
and passengers to Wilkes-Barre and 
intermediate villages, and to tow back 
coal from the mouth of the Lacka- 
wanna river. 

July 16, 1834, a committee, com- 
liosed of .John R. Drake, Stephen 
Strong, William A. Ely, Henry W. 
Camp, Stephen B. Leonard, and 
Thomas Farrington, met at the old 
Owego hotel and appointed Mr. Camp 
and Mr. Ely a sub-committee to obtain 
subscriptions for stock. Three days 
later a similar meeting of citizens of 
Wilkes-Barre was held in that city for 
the same purpose, and a committee 



398 
composed of Col. John L. Butler and 
six other men was appointed to meet 
the Owego committee at Towanda "for 
the purpose of consulting in regard to 
such measures mutually as might be 
considered beneficial to the citizens 
of the two places respectively." The 
meeting of the two committees was 
held Aug. 11, and the "Susquehanna 
Steam Navigation Company" was or- 
ganized. 

A meeting of the stockholders was 
held at the Owego hotel in this village 
August 21 and a board of managers 
was elected, which was composed as 
follows: James Pumpelly, William A. 
Ely, Henry W. Camp, Latham A. Bur- 
rows, Thomas Farrington, Jonathan 
Piatt, Amos Martin, George J. Pum- 
I)elly, and George W. Hollenback, of 
Owego, and Samuel D. Ingham, Ed- 
ward Lynch, Henry Colt, and Henry 
Pettibone, of Wilkes-Barre. James 
Pumpelly was chosen president of the 
board, William Piatt treasurer, and 
judge Burrows secretary. 

The same month John Hopkins, a 
civil engineer, made an examination 
of the river between Owego and 
Wilkes-Barre, for the purpose of ascer- 
taining its susceptibility of improve- 
ment for the purposes of steamboat 
navigation and to estimate the expense 
of making a channel fifty feet in 
width (except in rocky places, where 
80 or 100 feet was considered the 
proper width), with at least two feet 
depth of water at low water. Mr. 
Hopkins began his examination at 
Owego on Aug. 8. The distance from 
Owego to Wilkes-Barre is 120 miles, 
and the cost of removing obstructions 
and making the channel, as estimated 
by him was $10,254. It was the in- 



399 

tention of the coiiu»any, after having 
built its boat, to ascertain if a good 
business could be done at the time of 
high water, and if so, to improve the 
river so that boats could run in time 
of low water as well. 

Correspondence was opened with 
Thomas Blanchard relative to the con- 
struction of a steamboat, to be built 
upon his patented plan. Mr. Blanch- 
ard was a Connecticut man, who had 
gained some celebrity as the inventor 
of the lathe for turning gun-stocks, 
shoe-lasts, and other irregular forms 
by a self-directing operation. He had 
built boats on the Connecticut river. 
He had also built the "Genesee," a 
stemboat on the Genesee river, run- 
ning between Rochester and Avon, 86 
feet in length, 16 feet in breadth, and 
drawing 18 inches of water. She was 
used as a towboat and cost $7,500. 

In the winter of 182y-;!0 he built at 
Pittsburgh a steamboat for the navi- 
gation of the Alleghany river on the 
same plan of his Connecticut river 
boats. She was named '"Alleghany" 
and was the first boat to ascend the 
river to Olean. She was 90 feet long 
and 17 feet wide. The boat was 
launched in March, 1830. 

On her third trip, while between 
Warren, Pa., and Olean, N. Y., she ar- 
rived opposite the Indian village of 
Cornplanter. Here a deputation of gen- 
tlemen waited on this ancient and 
well-known .chief and invited him on 
board this new. and to him wonderful 
visitor, a steamboat. He was, in all 
his native simplicity of dress and man- 
ner of living, lying on his couch, made 
of rough pine boards, and covered 
with deer-skins and blankets. His 
habitation, a two-story log house, was 



400 
in a state of decay, without furniture,, 
except a few benches, and wooden 
bowls and spoons to eat out of. He 
was a smart, active man, seemingly 
possessed of all his stren^h, mind, 
and perfect health. He with his son, 
Charles, 60 years of age, with his son- 
in-law, came on board the boat and 
remained on board until she passed six 
miles up, and then returned in his own 
canoe, after having expressed great 
pleasure. 

When James Pumpelly made in- 
quiry relative to Mr. Blanchard, Wil- 
liam B. Calhoun, of Springfield, Mass., 
then speaker of the Massachusetts 
house of representatives, in a letter, 
commended him as a successful 
builder of steamboats on the Connec- 
ticut, Alleghany, and Kenebeck rivers. 
"I have been for many years person- 
ally and even intimately acquainted 
with Mr. Blanchard," writes Mr. Cal- 
houn. "He is a thorough, practical 
mechanic, possessing great ingenuity 
and sagacity, and no visionary. His 
early education was deficient, but the 
powers of his mind are, in my estima- 
tion, of high character and vigor. He 
is also a man of excellent heart, tho' 
sometimes eccentric and queer in his 
ways. . . I can furnish you, if 
necessary, as many certificates as you 
could wish from our very best citizens 
of Mr. B's undisputed merits in refer- 
ence to steam navigation on our 
river." 

Mr. Blanchard came to Owego and 
on Sel)t. 17, 1834, contracted to build 
a boat 100 feet long and fourteen 
feet wide, with his patent arches on 
each side, for $12,500. These arches 
were wooden ones, running fore and 
aft and sustained the principal weight 



401 
of the boat's machinery. The boat was 
to be provided with four steam en- 
gines. Two of them were to be ten- 
inch cylinder and four feet stroke, to 
propel a thirteen-foot wheel, with 
buckets ten feet long, at the stern of 
the boat. The other two engines, of 
ten-inch diameter and two and one- 
half foot stroke, were to propel two 
paddle-wheels, one at each side of the 
boat, eleven feet in diameter, with 
buckets four feet long. The boat had 
two boilers, and was to draw not to e.x- 
ceed eighteen inches of water. The 
boilers were of the construction 
known as the "log boiler," flue boilers 
being then unknown. The whole 
power of the engines was to be not 
less than fifty-horse power. The pro- 
pelling power was to exceed twice that 
required on a lake boat of the same 
size — that is the paddle-wheel pro- 
l)elling power was to be two or more 
times equal to that required on lake 
waters and the steam power in like 
proportion. It was believed that such 
a boat run in shallow water by extra- 
ordinary propelling power could navi- 
gate the Susquehanna river from 
Owego anywhere below. 

The side wheels were exactly equal 
in power to the stern wheel. When in 
still water the side wheels were turned 
in an opposite direction from the 
stern wheel the boat stood still, mov- 
ing in neither direction. The passen- 
ger cabin, which was near the bow of 
the boat, was fourteen feet wide and 
sixteen feet long. The boat was near- 
ly a flat-bottom one. 

The coiitract required the boat to be 
finished and put into operation on 
May 1, 1835. Mr. Blanchard bound 



402 

himself not to build any other boat 
with his patent improvements to run 
on the Susquehanna. George J. Pum- 
pelly, judge Burrows, and William A. 
Ely were appointed a building com- 
mittee, and the construction of the 
boat was begun in the latter part of 
September, 1834. It was built on the 
bank of the river, back of where Gur- 
don H. Pumpelly's house now stands 
under the superintendence of Capt. 
John J. Tobey, of New York. The iron 
work and machinery were made in 
New York and shipped by canal in Oc- 
tober. 

Capt. Tobey began work Oct. 1, 1834. 
The boat was built under the superin- 
tendence of Mr. Bampton, a ship car- 
penter from New York, with a force of 
from five to ten hands. The winter 
was a cold one, with much snow, and 
the boat was not fully completed when 
she was launched in April, 1835. 

There was some ceremony incident 
to the launching, which was witnessed 
by many spectators, and George J. 
Pumpelly christened her the "Susque- 
hanna" by breaking a bottle of wine 
over the bow, in accordance with a 
time-honored custom. The bottle was 
attached to the end of a piece of rope 
and swung over his head. Then the 
boat was towed up to an old plaster 
dock, near the foot of Court street, 
where the arch and boilers were 
placed in. The cabin and the painting 
and glazing were not completed until 
two months later. 

May 5, 1835, the "Susquehanna" was 
run about five miles up the river and 
performed well. The next day she 
was run two or three miles down the 



403 

river through swifter water and came 
up in good style. 

At 6 : 40 o'clock in the morning of 
May 7 the boat started on her first 
trip to Wilkes-Barre with James Pum- 
pelly, Jonathan Piatt, judge Burrows, 
and other prominent men on board, 
stopping at Athens, Towanda, and Me- 
shoppen, and arriving at Wilkes-Barre 
at 4:40 p. m. She was welcomed by 
large crowds of people, who lined the 
bank at the various places where she 
stopped. 

She started the next day on her re- 
turn trip with about twenty passen- 
gers on board. She arrived at Tunk- 
hannock at 5:30 o'clock. The next 
day while passing through a rapid 
Iniown as "horse race," it was found 
that the shaft attached to the stern 
wheel had become nearly twisted off, 
and the boat was compelled to lie at 
Meshoppen two or three weeks for re- 
pairs. The forward wheels were ren- 
dered almost entirely useless, the 
packing of a cylinder having blown 
out by force of the steam, owing to the 
cylinder covers being too thin. Capt. 
Tobey was compelled to come to Owe- 
go (a distance of seventy miles) for a 
blacksmith. They made a forge and 
repaired the shaft. The side wheels 
being useless, the rem.ainder of the 
trip to Owego was made by using the 
stern wheel alone. 

Capt. Tobey was captain of the boat 
on her first trip. James Springsteen 
was engineer and Ebenezer Allen 
pilot. The passenger fare from Owego 
to Wilkes-Barre was $2.50 and the re- 
turn fare $3.50. The boat carried but 
fifty passengers. 

In June Capt. Tobey made his sec- 
ond tri]) to Wilkes-Barre and returned 



404 
two days afterward without any diffi- 
culty. He brought up a cargo of 
twenty barrels of flour and between 
twenty and thirty passengers. That 
year there was a great scarcity of pro- 
visions, particularly of flour, which 
was selling here for ten dollars a bar- 
rel, which was a very high price for 
those times. This was the most im- 
portant service rendered to Owego by 
tlie boat during her existence. These 
were the only two trips made by Capt. 
Tobey to Wilkes-Barre, although when 
the boat was building he expected to 
be the captain permanently. 

The fourth of July in 1835 was cele- 
brated at Owego with a military pa- 
rade, the usual exercises, and a dinner 
at the "bowery" of the old Owego 
hotel. That day the "Susquehanna" 
took an excursion party up the river 
six miles to Whitney's dam. The ex- 
cursion was liberally advertised and 
25 cents were charged for the round 
trip. There were about 200 passen- 
gers on board, crowding her to her 
fullest capacity. 

The bottom of the boat was so flat 
that when the pasengers congregated 
at one side she rocked over, thus tip- 
ping the boilers in a position that ren- 
dered the steam dangerous and the 
boiler liable to explode. The requests 
of Capt. Tobey's to so divide the crowd 
that about an equal number should be 
on each side of the boat to preserve 
its equilibrium were not heeded until 
he rushed on deck saying, "If you 
don't stop flocking on to one side 111 
blow you to the devil." After return- 
ing to Owego a second excursion was 
made with a load of children. 

The side wheels of the boat had been 
made smaller than the contract speci- 



405 

fied. It was found on the first trip to 
Wilkes-Barre that they did not dip 
deep enough into the water. They 
were accordingly enlarged after the 
second trip down the river, and the 
wheel-houses were also enlarged to 
correspond. It was believed that the 
steamboat could be used as a tugboat 
to draw arks, but it could not be done, 
for the strain was so great that the 
rudder would not guide the boat. 

In January, 1835, the company de- 
cided to build two tow boats and the 
work was placed in the hands of Capt. 
Tobey. These barges were thirty feet 
long and twelve feet wide and were 
built at Owego. They were intended 
for the transportation of coal up the 
river, and were constructed of planks 
secured together by half inch rods on 
a patent plan of Mr. Blanchard. The 
boats had no timber in them. When 
the planks shrunk, the nuts at the end 
of the rods were turned and the planks 
drawn tightly together. The barges 
were used but once, when they were 
loaded with coal at Lees creek, a few 
rods below Nanticoke dam and nin<- 
miles below Wilkes-Barre. They were 
taken to Wilkes-Barre and left there. 

While the steamboat was in opera- 
tion on the river a bill was introduced 
in the state legislature incorporating 
the company under the name of the 
Susquehanna Steam Navigation Com- 
pany. The bill became a law May 1. 
1835. James Pumpelly and others 
were constituted a body corporate for 
the purpose of constructing one or 
more steamboats and navigating them 
on the Susquehanna river, for the pur- 
pose of transporting passengers and 
property and trading and dealing in 
mineral coal. The capital stock was 



406 

fixed at $50,000, divided into shares of 
$10 each. 

The company was managed by nine 
directors, one of whom was president 
of the board. The first board of di- 
rectors was composed of James Pum- 
pelly, Jonathan Piatt, Amos Martin. 
Henry W. Camp, William A. Ely, 
Latham A. Burrows, George J. Pum- 
pelly, Thomas Farrington, and Har- 
mon Pumpelly. All persons interested 
in the boat already constructed were 
deemed stockholders to the amount of 
their subscriptions. The company 
was authorized to improve the naviga- 
tion of the Susquehanna river from 
Owego south to the Pennsylvania state 
line by the removal of all obstructions, 
natural and artificial, and the erection 
of wing and side dams. James Pum- 
pelly was elected president of the 
board. 

In the lall of 1835 the water was not 
suflicientlv' high to run the boat and no 
tri]) was made down the river. In 
March, 18.36, a third trip was made to 
Wilkes-Barre. Henry W. Camp was 
captain, having succeeded Capt. Tobey. 
Mr. Camp was captain of the boat du- 
ring the remainder of her existence. 
An empty barge was taken for the pur- 
pose of bringing up a boat load of coal. 
In returning, when about half way u\) 
the river, the forward connecting or 
main shaft broke. It was brought to 
Owego and repaired. Three or four 
days later the boat reached Owego 
with a boat load ot coal in tow. This 
is believed to have been the first coal 
ever brought to this village. 

The "Susquehanna" started April 18 
on her fourth trip. The proprietors 
had determined to run her down the 



407 

river for the purpose of selling lier. 
At this time N. P. Willis, the poet, 
was living at "Glenmary" and writing 
his "Letters from Under a Bridge," 
which added much to his literary 
fame. He was invited to accompany 
others in the trip and dia so. The in- 
cidents of his journey were entertain- 
ly and graphically described in the 
fifteenth letter of the series. 

About thirty-one miles below Owego 
the same shaft broke again in another 
place. The boat returned at once to 
Owego using her stern wheel. The 
boat was tied up at her landing at the 
docks, which were under the old 
wooden stores in Front street, and an 
entire new set of shafts was procured 
in New York at a cost of about $700. 

In the fall of 1836 there was no high 
water for boating. A fifth trip was 
made, however, the boat leaving Owe- 
go Oct. 19 at 8:30 a. m. in charge of 
Capt. Camp. Returning a boat load of 
coal was brought up as far as Athens, 
where all was sold except two wagon 
loads, which were brought to Owego 
from that point by wagon. The river 
was too low to make another trip that 
season. 

In the spring of 1837 the boat did 
nothing. She was forced ashore by 
the ice near the mouth of the Owego 
creek and was not got off and repaired 
until low water. In the fall of the 
same year a trip was made down the 
river. A crank got out of order and 
was repaired at Wilkes-Barre. She 
soon afterward got adrift in a freshet 
and floated four or five miles down 
the river and went ashore on one of 
the small islands opposite Plymouth. 
The man who had made the repairs at 
Wilkes-Barre attached the boat and 



408 

sold her for his pay. She was struck 
off at auction for $60 to Augustus C. 
Laning, who subsequently used the en- 
gine for his foundry. 

In July, 1835, Mr. Blanchard, by his 
attorney, John M. Parker, of Owego, 
began an action at law against the 
steamboat company in the supreme 
court to recover the sum of $5,000, the 
balance unpaid on his contract for 
building the boat with interest. 
Thomas Farrington defended the case. 
The defence was that the boat was not 
completed; that she was defective in 
materials and construction, and con- 
sequently worthless and unfit for the 
purposes for which she was built; that 
she drew twenty, instead of eighteen 
inches of water; that the wheels and 
wheel-houses had to be made over; that 
the machinery was of inferior quality, 
and that the woodwork of the boat 
was of poor material. 

The suit was tried at the City Hall 
in New York city before Ogden Ed- 
wards, circuit judge, on the first Mon- 
day in October, 1837. The jury gave a 
verdict of $5,240.31 for the plaintiff. 
This case was of such importance to 
the legal fraternity that it was re- 
ported in Wendell's Reports, Vol. 21, 
page 342. 

The case was appealed and a new 
trial granted. It was again tried in 
New York in May, 1839, and the judg- 
ment of the previous court was af- 
firmed. Each of the stockholders sub- 
sequently paid $428.48, his proportion 
of the judgment obtained by Blanch- 
ard. 

In May, 1835, Blanchard had as- 
signed his contract for building the 
steamboat to James Pumpelly as se- 
curity for the payment of $500, bor- 



409 

rowed money. This also resulted in a 
suit at law, the particulars of which 
may be found by any one interested in 
Lalor's Supplement to Hill & Denio, 
page lOS. 

A representation of the "Susque- 
hanna" was engraved on the first of- 
ficial seal used by the village of Owe- 
go, which seal was made of brass by 
Sewall J. Leach in July, 1835. 

The "Susquehanna" was the first 
and last boat built in Owego for com- 
mercial purposes. All the large boats 
built since have been for pleasure 
only. The steamboats built here since 
that time are as follows: 
1839. The Lillie. 
1857. The Picnic. 
1873. The Owego. 
1876. The Lyman Trumar. 
1884. The Marshland. 
1884. The Glenmary. 
The construction of the second 
steamboat built in Owego was begun 
in 1838 and it was completed at a 
cost of $2,500 and launched in June, 
1839 by John H. Lillie, an ingenious 
mechanic, concerning whom some ac- 
count has been already given in these 
papers. It was built on the bank of 
the river a little below where the Sus- 
quehanna was launched. It was built 
as a pleasure boat, but more especi- 
ally to test the qualities of a boiler of 
Mr. Llllie's invention. The hull was 
thirty-five feet long. The cabin ac- 
commodated about fifty passengers. 
Gilbert Forsyth.a painter, took a small 
share In the investment and did the 
painting of the boat. The form of the 
boat was a compromise between that 
of a yawl and a flat-bottomed boat. 

The boiler was an upright one of 
five or six-horse power and presented 



410 
a grettt extent of Are surface. Fronr 
cold water sufficient steam could be 
generated to start tlie boat in about 
five minutes. Its form was a series 
of alternate circles of fire and water 
flues, and the fire flues were separa- 
ted near the top so that the firebox 
was built under only one-half of the 
boiler. The fire passed up on one side 
and down the other and then around 
the whole boiler up to the steam 
chamber. The water flues were only 
one inch thick and the fire flues two 
and one-half inches thick. This ar- 
rangement gave a strong fire on each 
side of the one-inch water flues, and 
it was a powerful heater. The boiler 
was made in Auburn state prison un- 
der Mr. Lillie's direction. The objec- 
tion to it was its large diameter, which 
rendered it a weak boiler. Similar 
boilers are used in many houses for 
generating steam for warming pur- 
poses. 

The engine and machinerj' were 
manufactured at the foundry of Henry 
\V. Camp at Owego in the fall of 1838. 
The boat was a side-wheeler and the 
engine was near the stern. There was 
an awning over the deck in front, and 
another deck in the rear, with seats. 
The "Lillie" was used as a pleasure 
boat during the summer of 1839, mak- 
ing trips six or eight miles up the 
river, and particularly around Big 
island, which was then sometimes 
known as Crater's island from Philip 
Crater living thereon, and now known 
as Hiawatha island. The boat proved 
to be a paying investment. 

In the fall of 1839 Mr. Lillie and Mr. 
Forsyth, with their families started 
down the river with the boat for Cin- 



411 

'cinnati, Ohio, to which city they were 
about to remove. They had their 
household goods on board. The boat 
ran in safety until it reached what 
was known to raftsmen as Pompey's 
rift, about three miles above Wysox, 
Pa., where it was wrecked on a sunken 
log in the rift. The wreck was sold at 
auction by the owners, who preceded 
by the way of Hollidaysburg and 
Pittsburgh to their destination. 

The next steamboat that made its 
appearance in Owego was called the 
"Knterprise." She was built at Bain- 
bridge, Chenango county, and came to 
Owego Nov. 17, 1851, on her way to 
Tunkhannock, Pa. She had been sold 
to a company there and her owners 
were on their way down the river to 
deliver her to the purchasers. 

The third boat built in Owego was 
called the "Picnic." She was built in 
the spring of 1857 by Stephen Decatur 
Gibson, a sign and ornamental painter, 
who died here in 1860. She was con- 
structed in Sidney Calkins's ark yard, 
which was in the rear of the property 
now owned by Frank D. Philes, about 
a mile east of the court house. 

In the fall of 1856 Mr. Gibson laid 
the bottom of his boat, which was flat 
and shaped very much like a common 
row boat. The bottom was built in 
the manner of an ark and turned over 
after one side was finished. Mr. Gib- 
son did the carpenter work himself, 
with a little assistance. When com- 
pleted the interior was exactly like 
that of an ordinary skiff, without any 
deck, and the cabin floor was laid on 
the bottom of the boat. 

The "Picnic" was sixty feet long 
and twenty feet wide at its widest part. 



412 

and drew fourteen or fifteen inches 
of water. An ice cream and lemonade 
counter was placed just forward of 
the shaft. There was a row of seats 
around the inside of the boat, which 
were furnished with cushions, taken 
from the Odd Fellows' hall. The 
wheel-house was a wooden frame, cov- 
ered with canvas. The boat was 
painted red. 

In April, Mr. Gibson, with the assist- 
ance of some friends and neighbors, 
slid the boat off into the river. She 
was floated down and tied up near the 
foot of Church street, where an engine 
of about fifteen-horse power and a 
boiler, which had been used in 
Thomas Kyle's chair factory in Chest- 
nut street, were placed in the bottom 
of the boat, back of the shaft. 

The trial trip was made July 3. 
With a party of men on board she 
started from the foot of Paige street 
and with ninety pounds of steam made 
the trip to Big island and back, a dis- 
tance of about seven miles in an hour 
and a half. The trial trip having been 
successful, announcement was made 
that daily trips would be made at 4 
and 7 o'clock p. m. during the rest of 
the season. 

An event of some note in the his- 
tory of the "Picnic" was her trip to 
Towanda, Pa. She started from oppo- 
site the Ahwaga house in the morning 
of Aug. 13 with a party of about thirty 
prominent men on board and made 
the trip in six hours. Its coming to 
Towanda was unexpected, but a crowd 
soon gathered and the reception was 
an enthusiastic one. Speeches were 
made, and the party was escorted to 
the Ward house. The next day at noon 



413 

a banquet was given by tbe Towanda 
people for the visitors at the Means 
house. 

In the afternoon the "Picnic'" made 
an excursion as far as Gibson's island, 
for the purpose of starting the visiting 
Owegoans on their return home. The.\- 
were accompanied by several promi- 
nent Towanda men and a brass band. 
On the trip speeches were made ac- 
knowledging the attentions and hospi- 
talities paid to the excursionists by 
the people of Towanda. At Gibson 
island teams, which had been sent 
from Towanda, took the Owego men 
to Athens, whence they came to Wa- 
verly by stage. The steamboat re- 
mained at Towanda nearly two weeks. 
She was then towed back to Owego. 
reaching here Aug. 22. 

The boat was run occasionally the 
next year. The fourth of July was 
celebrated in Owego in 1858 and at 
night she was anchored opposite Paige 
street and a display of fireworks was 
made from the boat. Later in the sea- 
son the boat was run up into the 
mouth of the Little Nanticoke creek 
and left there for the winter, and her 
engine and boiler were returned to the 
chair manufactory. 

Spring came and the freshet of ISoit 
carried the ice down the river. When 
the water had fallen somewhat Capt. 
Gibson's son, Don Gibson, went up to 
tow the boat down the river to the 
village. She was logged with water 
which had accumulated during the 
winter, and was heavy. He succeeded 
in towing her safely down as far as 
his father's house, in the eastern part 
of the village, but when he attempted 
to snub the rope around a tree it 
broke and the "Picnic" floated, at first 



414 
lazily and then rapidly down the 
stream. She struck on one of the 
piers of the Court street bridge, swung 
around, and quickly drifted out of 
sight. In due course of time she 
reached Nichols and running sideways 
on Wappasening bar, opposite the 
mouth of Wappasening creek, ground- 
ed. Her owner, who had gone down 
the river in pursuit, removed the shaft 
and everything else that was worth 
carrying off and then abandoned her 
to the natives, who speedily converted 
her into firewod. 

No other attempt to construct a 
steamboat of any size was made until 
1873, when the "Owego" was built. 

The "Owego Steamboat Company" 
was organized in August 1873. The 
moving spirits in the project of build- 
ing a new pleasure steamboat were 
George A. King, Frederick K. Hull. 
George Truman, Jr., and a few others. 
The directors were Charles M. Hay- 
wood, George A. King, Joseph S. De- 
Witt, Oscar R. Stone, George Strat- 
ton, Eli W. Stone, and George Tru- 
man, Jr. Mr. Haywood was chosen 
president, E. W. Stone treasurer, and 
Mr. King secretary. The capital stock 
of the company was $2,500. 

The boat was built under a shed 
70 by 26 feet in size constructed for 
the purpose on the bank of the river 
below the bridge on Robert Cameron's 
land. The boat was planned by an 
Ithaca boat builder by the name of 
\\an Order. It was 75 feet long and 26 
feet wide and capable of carrying 200 
l)assengers. When empty it drew 
eight inches of water and when loaded 
twelve inches. The work of building 
the boat was begun Oct. 13 under the 
superintendence of Alonzo W. Spring- 



415 
stead, of Geneva, and it was launched 
sideways with about forty persons on 
board in March, 1874. The cost of the 
boat, when furnished, was about 
.$3,000. 

The boat was named in a novel way. 
In Aiiril, 1874, $2, 500 of stock had been 
taken, $170 additional had been do- 
nated for purchasing furniture, and it 
was necessary to raise $500 more to 
complete the furnishing of the boat. 
A public meeting was held at Ahwaga 
hall, when a vote was taken to decide 
who should name the boat. The price 
of votes was ten cents each and there 
were seven contestants for the honor. 
The canvass was a hotly contested 
one. The total amount realized was 
$377.50 and Joseph S. DeWitt was the 
successful contestant, he having re- 
ceived 1,453 votes. Mr. DeWitt named 
the boat "Owego." 

Another election was held April 11 
at Ahwaga hall to choose a captain. 
A vote was taken at ten cents a vote, 
$116 were realized, and George Tru- 
man, Jr., was elected. George A. King 
was afterward chosen superintendent 
and he was superintendent of all the 
boats built by the company from 1874 
to 1884. 

A trial trip of the boat was made 
April 22. She ran up to within about 
three miles of Binghamton, making 
the round trip in ten hours. The next 
day the boat, with an excursion party 
and Prof. Raff's cornet band on board, 
went through to Binghamton. 

The plan of the steamboat company 
had been to lease a portion of Big 
island, which was owned by Cyrenus 
M. LaMonte, for a pleasure resort for 
picnic and excursion parties, and to 
run the steamboat in conjunction 



416 

therewith. To that end the company 
had in October, 1873, leased the small 
grove at the upper end of the island, 
and the next spring cleared the ground 
of brush, graded it.made gravel walks, 
and built a large dancing pavilion, ar- 
bors, and a building for a billiard 
room and a bowling alley. The total 
cost of the steamboat and the fitting 
up of the grounds was $7,818. With 
excursions, picnics, clambakes, etc., 
the season was a remarkably success- 
ful one, the net earnings of the boat 
being .$2,692.96. 

At about 10:oO o'clock in the even- 
ing of Nov. 2 an attempt was made by 
an incendiary to burn the boat while 
sue was tied up at her wharf above 
Paige street. A passer-by gave an 
alarm and the fire was extinguished, 
after it had caused damage to the 
amount of $200. 

During the winter changes were 
made in the boat, to increase her 
speed. The engine was replaced with 
two new ones of forty-horse power, 
made at the Bristol iron works in 
Temple street, and the paddle-wheels 
were made two feet larger in diam- 
eter, with buckets eighteen inches 
wider than the old ones. The upper 
deck, which was too low, was raised 
eighteen inches. The work was done 
by a boatbuilder named Canby from 
Geneva. A barge was built at a cost 
of about $600. It was 75 feet long and 
18 feet wide, and drew about 14 inches 
of water. February 28, 1876, the re- 
constructed "Owego" started for Bing- 
hamton on her trial trip with about 
fifty passengers on board. Near 
Campville the 700-pound mortice 
wheel broke, disabling the boat, and 



417 
the passengers were compelled to re- 
turn by railroad. 

In the sprhig of 1876 Capt. Eugene 
B. Gere.who represented Tioga county 
in the state assembly that year, ob- 
tained the passage of a bill through 
the legislature authorizing the Owego 
steamboat company to remove all 
dams, rocks, etc., in the channel of 
the Susquehanna river between Owego 
and Binghamton, for the purpose of 
deepening the channel. The bill be- 
came a law April IS. The object of 
the law was to provide a channel of 
water deep enough so that the steam- 
boat might make trips between Bing- 
hamton and Owego regularly. It was 
the intention of the company to build 
landings and docks at different points 
along the river, but nothing was done 
in the matter and the various boats 
were used for transporting excursion 
and picnic parties to and from Big 
island. Some of the largest excursion 
parties that ever visited Owego came 
here while the island was conducted 
as a summer resort. 

In the spring of 1S76 the steamboat 
company built a hotel at the northeast 
part of the island among the trees, 
which had been named Hiawatha 
grove, and the hotel was known as the 
Hiawatha house. The building was 80 
feet long, 40 feet wide, and two stories 
high. It was later made into a four- 
story building. 

The first manager of the hotel was 
R. W. Decker. He was soon suc- 
ceeded by B. J. Davis, the proprietor 
of the Central house at Owego, and he 
by Warren Hooker. In April, 1881, 
Capt. E. J. Richardson, proprietor of 
the Clinton house in Brooklyn, pur- 
chased a one-third Interest In the hotel 



418 

and the little steamboat "Clara" aiicf 
assumed personal charge of the hotel. 
This year the dock, near Paige street, 
was abandoned, and a new one con- 
structed at the foot of Church street. 
In the following July E. G. Brown and 
E. J. Cunningham, of Brooklyn, pur- 
chased controlling shares of the Owe- 
go navigation company and assumed 
the management of the hotel and is- 
land, Capt. Richardson remaining as 
manager. About forty rods west of 
the hotel a new building two stories 
high and 60x26 feet in dimensions, was 
built, which was used as a barroom, 
billiard and bowling alley. The hotel 
was of sufficient capacity to' accommo- 
date 150 guests. 

In 1884 W. W. Dllts became mana- 
ger of the hotel for E. G. Brown, and 
the next year Mr. Dllts and George A. 
Smith, of Owego, conducted it. In 
1886 Stephen Paris conducted the 
house. In August, 1887, Mr. LaMonte 
purchased of the E. G. Brown estate 
the lease of the Hiawatha house, which 
had ten years yet to run, together with 
all the personal property and six 
shares of steamboat stock for $1,750*, 
and then sold the island, which con- 
tains 112 acres of land, together with 
evei-ything on it for $13,750 to Dr. A. 
S. Kilmer and Jonas M. Kilmer, of 
Binghamton. The proposition of the 
Kilmers was to establish a sanitarium 
there on a large scale, but after hold- 
ing the property five years A. S. Kil- 
mer sold his one-half interest to his 
brother for $9,000. In August, 1900, 
J. M.Kilmer sold the island for $11,000 
to Mrs. Elizabeth Ransom Goodrich, of 
Brooklyn, who exi)ended a consider- 
able amount In improving the build- 



419 

ing and the premises and established 
her summer home there. 

ihe steamboat business was so 
|)ros])erous that the "Owego" was 
found too small for the purposes in- 
tended and it was decided to seU her 
and build a larger boat. She was ac- 
cordingly t:old in the summer of 187") 
to J. B. Shiffer and George Smith, of 
Pittston, Pa., who purchased her to do 
a passenger and freight business. The 
boat was to be delivered in the fall. 
She left Owego Oct. 18 on her trip 
down the river, making the trip of 13(i 
miles to Pittston in ten and three- 
fourths hours. At Pittston the boat 
was cut in two and enlarged b.v the ad- 
dition of 25 feet in her midshii)s. The 
paddle-wheels were also enlarged. 
The name of the boat was changed to 
••Pittston." 

The same month the model of a new 
boat was made at Owego. The boat 
was 120 feet long In the keel, with 20 
feet beam, G feet in the hold, with Ifi- 
foot wheels and five-foot buckets. She 
drew i3 inches of water without her 
machinery. The ladies" cabin, 33 by 
24 feet, was at the stern, and the 
men's cabin, 24 feet square, was be- 
tween the ladles cabin and the engine 
room. In front of the engine house 
was a smoking room, 10 feet long. In 
front of this was an open deck at the 
bow of the boat. The deck above was 
124 feet long and 33 feet wide. The 
boat when completed, with her ma- 
chinery, cost between $8,000 and 
$9,000. 

The boat was built in the fall and 
winter of 1875-6 by B. W. Springstead, 
a ship carpenter and father of the 
builder of the "Owego." It was built 
on the same spot where the "Owego" 



420 

was constructed, in the open air, witli 
tlie stern toward the river, and when 
launched went into the water stern 
foremost. The engine of 150-horse 
power was made at the Bristol iron 
works at Owego and the boiler at the 
manufactory of Shapley & Wells at 
Binghamton. The boiler was 15 feet 
long, v.'ith 147 flues. 

In testing the boiler at the works in 
Binghamton a serious accident hap- 
pened. It had been placed in the 
street. When the guage indicated a 
pressure of 120 pounds of steam, a boy 
was sent into the building to procure 
some additional weights to place on 
the safety . valve. Suddenly the boiler 
exploded, killing the foreman and a 
boy, who was standing near by, and fa- 
tally injuring another man. Ten other 
persons were injured. A suit was sub- 
sequently brought in the supreme 
court by the family of the boy against 
Shapley & Wells for $5,000 damages, 
and the jury gave a verdict for $575. 

The new steamboat, which had been 
named "Lyman Truman," was 
launched by John Combes, of Geneva, 
March 9. At 10:30 a. m. the fire alarm 
at the court house was struck, so that 
the people who might wish to see the 
launching could do so. The bank of 
the river and the bridge were soon 
filled with people, and Adams's cornet 
band on the bridge played as the boat 
slid from the stocks into the water. 
She was towed up to her dock, a little 
above Paige street. This dock had 
been lengthened to seventy feet. 

A new boiler was made by Shapley & 
Wells and was placed in the boat May 
15. Her trial trip took place May 22. 
when she ran up to and around Big 
island in 55 minutes, making all the 



421 

landings. Geo. Truman, Jr., was cap- 
tain of tlie boat and George A. King 
.superintendent and general manager. 

The centennial celebration of the 
fourth of July was held that year in 
the grove on Big island. Col. Archie 
E. Baxter, of Bath, delivered the ora- 
tion, Cajjt. Eugene B. Gere read tin 
declaration of independence, and Dr. 
John B. Benton read an original poem. 
The boat made daily trips to the island 
during the summer and fall. 

In November a large truss 60 feet in 
length was constructed for the pur- 
pose of holding the boat at the centre 
in its proper position, as she drew 
nine inches more of water than she 
should have drawn. In the winter she 
■was tied up in the Little Xanticoke 
creek. 

While the "Lyman Truman" was a 
great success as a pleasure boat 
through the seasons of 1876 to 1880, 
she was not financially profitable, 
owing to her large size, and was an 
elephant on the hands of her owners. 
In October, 1880, she was sold, to- 
gether with the steamboat company's 
interest in a small steamboat called 
the "Clara," which had been pur- 
chased some time before of Charles 
Kellogg, of Athens, Pa. The sale was 
made on a judgment for $1,500 in 
favor of the superintendent, Mr. King. 
The property was sold for $1,150 to 
Dr. James \\.-oon, who also held a 
judgment of about $1,500 against the 
company. The Hiawatha house, which 
with its furniture and fixtures was 
inventoried at $3,000, was also sold to 
Dr. Wi! on. 

The new owners of the "Lyman 
Truman" reorganized in January, 1881, 
under the name of "The Owego Nava- 



422 

gation Company," with a board of di- 
rectors composed of Geo. A. King, Dr. 
James Wilson, Geo. W. Sweet, John 
J. Van Kleeck, and Frank M. Baker. 

In the following April the steam- 
boat, which had cost $8,500, was sold 
to the Plymouth steam navigation 
company of Pittston, Pa., for $6,000. 
The name of the boat was changed to 
"Susquehanna" and she was run as a 
passenger boat between Wilkes-Barre 
and Nanticoke dam. In the morning 
of July 2, 1883, her boilers exploded 
while she was at her dock at Wilkes- 
Barre and she was torn to pieces. 
The fireman was fatally injured and 
other persons were badly hurt. 

The capital stock of the steamboat 
company was $10,000. C. M. Haywood 
was president in 1893-4. Dr. James 
Wilson was president from 1875 to 
1884, and W. E. Dorwin from 1884 to 
1887, inclusive. Geo. A. King was su- 
perintendent and Frank M. Baker gen- 
eral passenger agent during the ex- 
ists nee of all the boats. 

The "Owego" had been found to be 
too small for the purposes intended 
and the "Lyman Truman" was larger 
than was needed, so in the fall of 1881 
it was decided by the steamboat man- 
agers to build another boat, to be in 
size between the two boats and to 
carry two or three hundred passen- 
gers. A new company was formed 
under the name of the Owego Steam 
Navagation Company. The new com- 
pany was not incorporated until 
March, 18S4. The directors were 
George A. King, Jefferson C. Dwelle. 
Dr. W. L. Ayer, Geo. tl. Rich, Frank 
M. Baker, Wni. E. Dorwin, Dr. C. R. 
Heaton, and John G. Sears. Mr. 
Dorwin was chosen president and 



423 

Clarence A. Thompson secretary and 
treasurer. 

The hull of the new steamboat was 
built at Ithaca and was put together 
on the bank of the river under the 
pine trees east of this village, where 
River avenue runs nearest to the 
river. The builder was B. F. Tabor, of 
Ithaca, a boat builder. She was a 
side-wheeler, 105 feet long and 16 feet 
wide. She drew about fifteen inches 
of water. The motive power were two 
sixty-horse power engines, which with 
her boilers were made at Binghamton. 
Her cost was about $5,250. The 
steamboat company built a waiting 
room and ticket office 30 feet square 
on the south side of Front street on 
Mrs. C. S. Carmichael's land, where 
the second house above Church street 
now stands, with a dock in the rear at 
the river, which was reached by a long 
platform and steps. 

The new boat was named "Marsh- 
land," a name which had been some 
time previously given by Gen. B. F. 
Tracy to his stock farm, near Apala- 
chin. The boat was launched June 16. 
1884, sliding into the water sidewise. 
In order that the boat might come 
down the river as far as her dock in 
low water, a dam was built by the 
steamboat company at a cost of $600 
above Church street and across the 
river. It was built by Jasper L. Pur- 
ple, who drove piles and fastened 
planks thereto. • This raised the water 
about one foot. It was not a perma- 
nent dam, and was knocked out and 
broken up by the ice the next spring. 

The steamboat proved to be too 
small for the purpose intended, and in 
November a contract was made with 
John Combs, of Auburn, to cut her in 



424 

two and lengthen her thirty feet, so 
that she would be large enough to 
carry 800 passengers. The work was 
done at the foot of Ross street and 
was completed in February, 1885. 

In August, 1890, the "Marshland" 
was sold for $800 to W. E. Renshaw. 
of Plymouth, Pa., the man who purT 
chaseu the "Lyman Truman." The 
purchasers expended about $300 in 
calking and refitting the boat, but did 
not pay the amount due on the pur- 
chase, leaving her in the hands of the 
old owners. 

The "Glenmary," a larger steamboat 
than the "Marshland," was built in 
1884 by Alonzo W. Springstead, of 
Geneva, N. Y., on the ground at the 
foot of Ross street where the houses 
of Grant M. West and Frank S. Tru- 
man now stand. She was 90 feet 
long and 16 feet wide. The paddle 
buckets were two small and were en- 
larged in the spring of 1885. The boat 
could carry 800 passengers. The en- 
gine and boiler were made in Bing- 
hamton. She proved to be the fastest 
of all the steamboats that had been 
built here. 

In April, 1887, the "Glenmary" was. 
sold at sheriff's sale to George W. Bar- 
ton for $4,525 on an execution in favor 
of the Owego national bank for $4,350. 
In June, 1889, she was again sold for 
$6,000 to W. E. Renshaw, of Plymouth. 
Pa., who intended to run her as a pas- 
senger boat between that place and 
Wilkes-Barre every thirty minutes. 
The boat was taken to Wilkes-Barre 
with about sixty passengers on board, 
the greater portion of whom left the 
boat at Towanda. When the boat 
reached Plymouth the deal fell 
through. As the water fell in the river 



425 
at this time the boat was not brought 
back to Owego until the next year. 
In June, 1893, she was again sold to a 
New York company, and was to have 
been run from Key West, Fla., to the 
pbre fields, a distance of 140 miles 
along the coast. This deal also fell 
through. The boat remained here un- 
til October, 1894. She was anchored 
below the bridge, and one night she 
broke loose from her fastenings and 
went down the river, going ashore be- 
low the dam, near the mouth of thQ 
Owego creek. She was afterward 
broken up and the lumber of which 
she was composed was carted away, 

In the summer of 1886 another dam 
was built across the river, a few yards 
above the mouth of the Owego creek, 
at a cost of $4,000. The amount was 
raised by subscription. The promo- 
ters were members of the steamboat 
company. The D., L. & W. railroad 
company subscribed |.5O0 and the vil- 
lage trustees appropriated $300. The 
dam was built by contract by A. F. 
Chapman, , of Watkins, under the su- 
pervision of Stephen W. Leach. It 
was constructed by driving three rows 
pf piles across the river, which were 
covered by an apron of planks above 
and below, bridge shape, and caulked 
with brush and stone. The dam raised 
the water four feet at the dam and two 
and one-half f.eet at Church street. 
One night, about a year after the dam 
was built a hard cider party of men, 
with axes and crowbars, tore a hole in 
the dam one night, allowing the water 
to escape, and the dam was never re- 
paired. All of it has disappeared, hav- 
ing been torn out and washed away by 
successive floods. 

The reason for selling the "Glen- 



426 

mary" was that after the destruction 
of the dam the water was so low that 
she could not be run to any advantage 
or profit. This was the last steamboat 
of any size built here for business pur- 
poses. There were other boats of 
some pretensions — ^the "Dora," owned 
by C.A.Thompson; the "Welles," built 
by E. A. Saxton; the "Success," owned 
by Seth L. King; a catamaran built by 
W. H. Shaw and Richard S. Stout; 
the "Augusta:," owned by W. C. Ren- 
wick, and the "Dewey," another cata- 
maran, owned by Chas. F. Hill. 



Post-Riders Who Ride Horseback 
through the Country to Deliver 
Mails, Are Succeeded by the Early 
Stages — Stephen B. Leonard Estab- 
lishes the First Stage Route from 
Owego to Bath — Lines Are Extend- 
ed throughout the State and In- 
crease in Number Until Stage 
Coaching Is Killed by the Comple- 
tion of the New York and Erie Rail- 
road. 

Ill the early days of this couuty'f 
settlement, the mails were delivered 
by post riders, who rode on horseback 
through the woods, leaving the mails 
at the small settlements and log 
cabins, as they passed throught the 
country. 

The Owego Gazette in those days 
was the only paper published in 
Southern New York, and as its sub- 
scribers were scattered about the un- 
settled country, long distances apart, 
the only method of delivering their 
papers to them was by men on horse- 
back. 

When Stephen B. Leonard pur- 
chased the Gazette office, in 1813, he 
at first delivered his papers himself, 
after they were published, riding over 
his route on horseback. He afterward 
secured several mail routes, for which 
a certain price a year was paid by the 
government, and hired post-riders. By 
this means he secured a free delivery 
of his papers with the mails. His 
routes were to Binghamton, Norwich, 
Penn Yan, and other points. Other 
routes were afterward awarded to 
other persons. As a curiosity a copy 
of a post-rider's advertisement of a 
later period, which was printed in the 



428 

Gazette of December 6, 1824, is here 
given: 

POST-RIDER'S NOTICE. 

ORRIN VERY, Pust-Rider, informs his pat- 
rons in Newark, Berkshire, Caroline, and 
Candor, that his term for carrying the mail ex- 
pires on the 1st of January next — -All persons 
indclitcd (n liim for papers are therefore hereby 
notificil, lli:it tlicir rtspective accounts must be 
settli.l liy tliat time — Grain will be received if 
<Ieli\ti'i(l ;i< riirding to contract, otherwise the 
money will be expected. — Nov. SO. 

As soon as possible wagon roads 
were broken through the forests, gen- 
erally along the Indian trails, and 
soon the primitive stage made its ap- 
pearance. 

The first regular stage to visit Owe- 
go came from Newburgh. The owner's 
name was Stanton, and he lived at 
Mount Pleasant. His stage was a 
three-horse lumber wagon, with hick- 
ory poles bent over to form a top, and 
covered with canvas. By this stage 
the mails from the east were carried 
once in each week, reaching Owego 
every Saturday afternoon. 

In 1811 Conrad Teter, of Wyoming. 
Pa., began carrying the mail from 
Wyoming to Tioga Point (Athens). 
Pa., with a one-horse wagon, succeed- 
ing a mail carrier who had been de- 
livering the mails with a small mail 
bag on horseback. Mr. Teter soon 
purchased a covered wagon and used 
two horses. He for a few years car- 
ried the mails between Wilkes-Barre 
and Painted Post, N. Y., making the 
round trip once a week. After a time 
he ran a covered Jersey carriage, 
drawn by four horses, between 
Wilkes-Barre and Athens. 

In 1814 he canie to Owego and suc- 
ceeded Mr. Stanton as proprietor of 
the Newburgh route. He drove the 
stage himself, making weekly trips 
from 6we!go to Newburgh. From 



429 
Newburgh passengers went by water 
to New York. This stage went over 
the route afterward taken by the New- 
burgh and Geneva stage line. Mr. 
Teter had a partner named Hunting- 
ton. 

Teter's brother-in-law. Miller Hor- 
ton. of Wilkes-Barre, was at this time 
carrying the mail for Teter between 
Wilkes-Barre and Athens. He came 
to Owego and became Teter's partner, 
the partnership with Huntington hav 
ing been dissolved. 

February 14, 1816, an act was passed 
by the legislature of this state, which 
gave Teter and Oliver Phelps, of Lud- 
lowville, the sole rigut for six years to 
run stage coaches for passengers be- 
tween Newburgh and Monticello, on 
the road leading through Montgomery 
and Chenango Point (Binghamton) on 
the mail route, and between Chenango 
Point and Geneva on the road running 
through Owego. Ithaca, Trumansburg, 
and Ovid, and between Ithaca, and 
Auburn on the main mail route, 
through Ludlowville. The act pro- 
vided that no other persons could run 
stages over this route under a penalty 
of $500, and prescribed that trips 
should be made in three days, twice 
each week, and oftener if the public 
good should require, the fare not to 
exceed seven cents a mile. 

In 1818, a new company was formed, 
with Oliver Phelps at its head, and 
Ithaca was made the western termina- 
tion of the route instead of Owego. A 
better line of stages was put on the 
route, making tri-weekly trips. 

In 1819 Dr. Tracy Robinson and 
Major Augustus Morgan, of Bingham- 
ton, became proprietors of the route. 
In 1822 the same company, but with 



430 
additional proprietors, established a 
daily line on the route, making Geneva 
the western terminus. 

Stephen B. Leonard established the 
first stage route from Owego to Bath, 
In 1816. It required two days to make 
the trip, the passengers staying over 
night at Elmira. This was considered 
a great undertaking in those days, and 
Mr. Leonard was highly complimented 
by the newspapers for his enterprise. 
The following Is a copy of Mr. Leon- 
ard's advertisement, which was pub- 
lished in the Gazette, and which may 
be read with some interest at the 
liresent day: 

Owego & Bath 

Mail i:rr:::^i stage. 

TWICE A WEEK. 

THIS line runs regularly twice a week, between 
the villages of Owego and Bath, — Days of 
starting and arrival as follows: — -Leave Owepro 
(111 Mondays and Fridays, at 6 a. m., and break- 
fasting^ at Athens, arrive at Elmira at 6 p. ni. 
Leave KIniira on Tuesdays and Saturdays, at 4 
a. ni., and breakfasting at Painted Post, arrive 
at Bath at 6 p. ni. 

Ri'tiirning. — Leave Bath on Mondays and Fri- 
days, at i a. m., and breakfasting at Painted 
Post, arrive at Elmira at 6 p. m. — -Leave Elmira 
on Tuesdays and Saturdays, at 4 a. m., and 
breakfasting at Athens, arrive at Owego at 6 
p. ni. 

This line of stages intersects the Newburgh and 
Buffalo line at Owego — as also the Pliiladelpliia — 
the Wilkes-Barre line, at Ti..-^ Puint ;ind tlie 
(leneva line at Bath,— al uhnh l.iii,i |.l;i,r it 
also intersects a line leadinu .iii.,il> t.. \.i-,lira 
situate about 30 miles from olnm. oiio ot lh( 
places of embarkation on the Allegany river, and 
about 18 miles from Oil Creek, the nearest place 
of embarkation, and which empties into the .M- 
les-nin- :.f ol.iui: iit which pliu-c boats of anv 

Sizr ,,:. ilv ,!■, - 1 .-lit rr;Mlv f...' I IM ^ . 1 1 , TS, for tllC 

pni|M . \ '•' - • M.Jnm llir Ohio n\. v. 

I'li^.Mi, 11,11, liiii.^ n.iiii \ru \oik, or from 
ail\ of the l';astcrn Stales, I- llio S. \\\ Slates. 
win find this the shorl.-i, .Ii.,i|h-.i. .hhI most 
expeditious route. The disi ;iiii . ii-ni \..\ \ ork, 
via Owego, Painted Post and H.ilh. lo Aii-rlica, 
is 316 miles, which is performed in aliout 5 
days. 

Ciood teams and careful drivers will be kept 
on the route, and no pains spared to accommo- 
date passengers. The Stage hotises are good. 

S. B. LEONARD. 

March 30, 1819. 



431 

«s3= For scats in the almvc line, apply at /-:. .S. 
Marsh's m- Amos Marthrs in 0\vef;-u— at Suit- 
iiiarxirs. Athens— at Puris's. Elniira— ami at 
Ilarnard's, Bath. 

At a later period, Mr. Leonard had 
two four-horse coaches running be- 
tween Owego and Montrose. In De- 
cember, 1823, he sold his lines to a 
stage company, which was then or- 
ganized, and of which he became one 
of the proprietors. The route was ex- 
tended to New York city, and became 
a strong opposition to the Newburgh 
and Geneva line. This company was 
composed of Joseph I. Roy, .lohn Bur- 
nett, Zephania Luce, Abraham Bray, 
Gould Phinney, Silas Heminway, 
Stephen B. Leonard, Jacob Willsey, 
Augustus Morgan, Isaac Post, Ithimer 
Mott, Miller Horton, A. P. Guilds, and 
others. 

Mr. Roy was at this time a hotel 
keeper at Jersey City, and Mr. Luce 
was afterward his business partner. 
Mr. Bray lived at Newton, N. J. Mr. 
Phinney was the owner of a glass fac- 
tory at Dundaff, Pa. Mr. Heminway 
afterward became an extensive stage 
proprietor at Buffalo, and had five or 
six lines through the state, where the 
New York Central railroad now runs. 
Jacob Willsey lived at Willseyville, in 
this county, of which place he was 
one of the earliest settlers. Major 
Morgan, who was also a proprietor in 
the Newburgh and Geneva line, was 
first a printer, afterward a hotel 
keeper, and lived in Binghamton. Mr. 
Post kept a tavern at Montrose, Pa. 
Mr. Mott also kept a tavern one and 
one-half miles east of New Milford, 
Pa. Miller Horton lived at Wilkes- 
Barre, Pa., and was also one of the 
proprietors of the Newburgh and 
Geneva line of stages. 



Ail 

The comyany put a new line of 
stage coaches on the road. The route 
was from New York to Owego. Here 
it intersected the Newburgh and 
Geneva line for Buffalo. Stages from 
New York occupied two days and a 
half in their journey to Owego, and 
one day more from Owego on to 
Geneva. Trips were made three 
times a week. The route was through 
the villages of Newark, Morristown, 
and Newton, N. J., to Milford, Pa.; 
thence it followed the new turnpike, 
via Dundaff and Montrose, to Owego. 
The stages on this route left Patton's, 
71 Cortlandt street. New York, every 
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 
reaching Owego the third day at 10 
a. m. This was then the most expe- 
ditious route, the distance to Owego 
being but 170 miles, whereas by the 
way of Newburgh it was 210 miles. 
The line was intersected at Montrose 
by the Philadelphia and Baltimore 
lines, and at Owego by the Bath and 
Olean line. 

In the spring of 1825, the line was 
extended west to Geneva, by the way 
of Ithaca and Ovid, and coaches left 
New York every day, Sundays ex- 
cepted. At Geneva the line inter- 
sected the daily lines to Rochester, 
Buffalo, Lewiston, etc. It had now be- 
come an important route, as it opened 
another, and the most direct, com- 
munication between New York and 
the western part of the state. At 
Aewton, N. J., it intersected a tri- 
weekly line to Philadelphia; at Mont- 
rose, the line to Wilkes-Barre, Harris- 
burg, etc.; at Chenango Point, a line 
which ran north through Greene, Ox- 
ford, etc., to Utica; and at Owego, a 
line which ran through Tioga Point 



433 

and Elniira to Bath. The latter line 
was afterward extended to Olean. 

The stage offices were at Patton's, 
in New York; Joseph I. Roy's, Jersey 
City; Bolle's tavern, Newark; the pub- 
lic houses at Newton and Dundaff; 
Buckingham's, at Montrose; Dr. Tracy 
Robinson's hotel at Chenango Point; 
Goodman's and Mamiing's taverns, in 
Owego; the Ithaca hotel and Grant's 
coffee house, at Ithaca, and Faulkner's 
hotel, at Geneva. 

The coaches were drawn by four 
horses, the horses being usually 
changed at the end of each twelve or 
eighteen miles. Nine passengers were 
carried inside each coach, and as 
many outside as could ride comforta- 
bly — generally from three to six. 

It was at about this time that there 
were two rival stage lines from Owe- 
go to Ithaca. One was conducted by 
Stephen B. Leonard, and the other by 
Lewis Manning. Mr. Leonard's stages 
carried the mails, and the rivalry was 
so sharp that he charged but fifty 
cents each way for passengers. In 
some instances passengers were car- 
ried free of charge and a free break- 
fast was given to them, to prevent 
their going by the rival line. Mr. 
Leonard had a contract for carrying 
the mails, which gave him a great ad- 
vantage over his competitor, who was 
finally compelled to withdraw his 
stages from the line. 

The Newburgh and Geneva line was 
owned by R. Manning, C. Pratt, D. 
Dunning, Lewis Manning, Augustus 
Morgan, E. Hathaway, and others. 
This route was originally from Owego 
to Binghamton, from Binghamton to 
Great Bend, Great Bend to Sweet's 
tavern, Sweet's to Mount Pleasant, 



434 

Mount Pleasant to Lukens's fanir, 
Lukens's to Bloomingburg, Blooming- 
burgh to Newburgh.and thence by boat 
to New York. The stages left Owego 
three times each week, at three 
o'clock in the afternoon, and were two 
days and two nights in making the 
journey. 

The proprietors, in September, 1828, 
established another line from the head 
of Seneca lake to Owego, in connec- 
tion with the steamboat "Seneca 
Chief." Trips over this line were 
made three times a week, and inter- 
sected the Newburgh line at Owego. 
The trip from New York to Geneva 
wa.^ made in three days. The first 40 
and the last 65 miles were by water. 

Previous to about the year 1830, the 
stages on the various lines running 
from and through Owego were usually 
two horse affairs. After making a dis- 
tance of about fifteen miles, the dri- 
vers and horses were changed and 
sometimes the stages. The stages 
were run usually about thirty 
miles each day. After 1830, heavy 
Troy coaches were put upon the road, 
which were drawn by four horses 
each, with about the same changes. 
These coaches weighed from 1,800 
to 2,000 pounds and carried nine pas- 
sengers inside and two outside, al- 
though more were crowded on the top 
when it was necessary. The body of 
one of these stages was hung on two 
strong leather straps, composed of 
many thicknesses of leather. With five 
(jrmore i)assengersthe riding was com- 
fortable; with only one or two passen- 
gers the stage rolled and jumped on a 
rough road. These stages were like 
the modern omnibus — they would al- 
ways hold one more passenger. The 



435 

tare from Owego to Newburgh was 
.$7.25, and to Jersey City over the 
Montrose route $8.00. 

All the villagers knevp the time of 
the arrival and departure of the dif- 
ferent stages, and when the sound of 
the stage driver's horn was heard an- 
nouncing his coming, there was usu- 
ally a considerable number of sight- 
seers to witness their going ajid com- 
ing. 

At the stage houses the passengers 
stopped for their meals, and this tra- 
fie was a large source of profit. Usu- 
ally these hotel keepers were the es- 
sence of politeness, and in assisting 
their guests to and from the stages 
and entertaining them in the house 
they had no equals. 

In the old stage days in every vil- 
lage in the Susquehanna valley was a 
tavern designated as "the stage 
house." or house where the stages 
stopped. The old Owego hotel, which 
stood where the present Ahwaga 
house is now, was the stage house in 
this village for the old lines until the 
New York and Erie railroad was built 
to Owego in 1849. The hotel was 
burned in the fall of that year. 

The old stage companies had the 
contracts for carrying the mails and 
were consequently able to drive off 
any opposition lines tx.at might be 
started. In October, 1840, N. Randall 
& Co. started an opposition line be- 
tween Owego and Morristown, N. J., 
running by the way of Montrose, Dun- 
daff, Carbondale, Clark's Corners, Ca- 
naan, Honesdale, and Milford. At 
Morristown, passengers for New York 
and Philadeli)hia were transferred to 
the cars. 

Nathan Randall, previous to estab- 



436 

lishing this stage line — from 1S28 to 
1S37 — was the publisher of the Ithaca 
Journal and Advertiser at Ithaca. His 
Owego office was at L. Manning & 
Son's Owego hotel and his agent was 
J. C. Bogardus. Bogardus was from 
Rhinebeck. He died a few years af- 
terward, a victim of intemperance. 

The New York agency was at 73 
Cortlandt street. The agent, Jonathan 
Hill, was a bachelor and had been a 
stage driver. At the time of his death 
he had not a relative living, and he 
left all his property to John Patton. 
Jr., a nephew of James Patton, who 
was agent for the old stage line at 71 
Cortlandt street, and himself a stage 
agent. John Patton, Jr., was after- 
ward engaged in the ocean steamship 
business, and became very wealthy. 
At the time of his death a few years 
ago, he was the owner of the Pacific 
hotel in Greenwich street. 

William G. Thompson, who was a 
son of Henry Thompson, the first tav- 
ern keeper and postmaster at Camp- 
ville, lived nearly all of his life at 
Owego and died here. He was agent 
for the old lines at 73 Cortlandt street 
about the year 1846, and two years af- 
terward went on the line to look after 
the passengers. 

Mr. Randall was finally driven off 
the road by the old companies, to 
whom he sold his coaches and stock. 
In every instance where opposition 
lines were afterward started they 
were also compelled to leave the road 
and sell out to the old proi)rietors. 
The office of the old lines was at Man- 
ning & Son's Owego hotel, while the 
opposition established their agencies 
at the Franklin house and Tioga 
house. The duty of these agents was 



437 
simply to receipt fare for the com- 
pany. 

Another of the opposition lines was 
the "Eagle Lme" of Field, Cox & Co., 
which was established in October, 
1S43, after the N. Y. & E. railroad was 
completed to Middletown. The head- 
quarters of the proprietors were at 
Binghamton. Coaches were run daily 
from Middletown by the way of Nar- 
rowsburg, Honesdale, Mount Pleasant. 
New Milford, Great Bend, and Bing- 
hamton to Owego. At this time the 
offices of both the regular and oppo- 
sition lines were at the old Owego 
hotel. 

Charles Cox was from Carbondale, 
Pa., He afterward kept a hotel four 
miles west of Honesdale. He died at 
Scranton. Mr. Field was a brother of 
Maj. Almerin Field, who was proprie- 
tor at various times of hotels at Corn- 
ing, Elmira, Owego, and Waverly. 
The brothers kept a hotel at Narrows- 
burg and were both engaged in stage 
coaching. 

As the New York and Erie railroad 
was constructed the stages running 
east from Owego changed their routes 
and ran in connection with its last 
western terminus. The road was ex- 
tended to Goshen, in September, 1S41; 
to Middletown, in June. 1843; to Port 
.Tervis, in .January, 1848; to Bingham- 
ton, in December of the same year; 
and to Owego October 1, 1849. When 
the road reached Elmira the days of 
the old stage lines were at an end so 
far as this part of the state was con- 
cerned. 

The stage proprietors in the later 
days of stage coaching were as fol- 
lows: C. L. Grant & Co., Ithaca; I. 
Ringe, Geneva; L. Manning & Son. 



438 
Owego; T. J. Magee, Bath; Lorenzo 
Seymour, Corning; Cooley & Maxwell, 
Elmira;, Stephen B. Leonard, Owego; 
Augustus Morgan, Binghamton; Ithl- 
mer Mott, New Milford; Wm. Riley, 
Rileyville, Pa.; Hamilton & Son, 
Monticello; O. Sweet, Bloomingburg; 
S. Hathaway, Newburgh; Leonard 
Searle & Bro., Montrose; Wm. Bron- 
son, Carbondale; Major McClary, 
Honesdale; Sam Dimmock, Milford; 
the Cassidy brothers, Port Jervis; 
Charles Beach, Catskill; H. Curtis, 
Greene; and Miller Horton, Wilkes- 
barre. 

The Searleses came to Montrose, 
Pa., at an early day from the Wyom- 
ing valley, and were the first to estab- 
lish stage routes and post offices in 
Susquehanna county. For many years 
they ran two lines from Milford to 
New York — one by the way of Sussex, 
N. J., and the other via Deckertown. 

The stage proprietors here named 
were all combined in one large stock 
company and owned all the large 
routes running through southern New 
York. Each one put into the company 
as many coaches and as much live 
stock as was necessary for the num- 
ber of miles he ran over, and each 
drew mileage in proportion to the 
number of miles run by his stages. 
Settlements were made once every 
three months at meetings of the pro- 
prietors, which were held at various 
points previously designated. Owego 
was a central point, and the meetings 
were frequently held here. 

As the N. Y. and E. railroad ex- 
tended its tracks westward and 
the stage routes were consequently 
gradually shortened.many of the stage 
drivers became brakemen on the road. 



439 

were rapidly pushed forward, and be- 
came conductors. The old coaches 
disappeared, most of them being re- 
moved to parts of the country not yet 
occupied by the railroads. 

The last of the old coaches in Owe- 
go was lying for several years in the 
old lane, which ran about where Cen- 
tral avenue now extends, and through 
which the old Owego and Ithaca horse 
railroad had run down into the vil- 
lage. The coach was minus its wheels 
and everything else that could be car- 
ried away. One night, on a third of 
.July, the boys made a great bonfire 
in the street at the north end of the 
park. The old coach was dragged out 
into the street and surrounded by 
wooden boxes and other inflammable 
stuff. A light was applied, and the 
whole was soon a heap of ashes and 
scrap iron. 

Stage coaching was not unattended 
by accidents. The roads were some- 
times rough, the hills precipitous, the 
nights dark, and there was danger in 
times of ice and flood. The only ac- 
cident worthy of any mention that ever 
happened in Owego was on the 26th of 
March, 1846. There was a great flood 
in the Owego creek, and all the low 
land between the two bridges in Cana- 
wana was overflowed. At four o'clock 
in the morning, the mail coach from 
Elmira containing five passengers was 
coming into Owego. It passed over 
the creek bridge and entered the swift 
current, which was flowing over the 
highway. The water at once swept 
away both coaches and horses. One 
of the horses was drowned. The dri- 
ver and three of the passengers were 
drowned. All passengers were young 



440 



men under twenty-five years of age 
and one of them was a negro. 



The Second Railroad Chartered in the 
State of New York Is Built between 
Ithaca and Owego, to Lessen the 
Expense of Transporting Merchan- 
dise to Owego and thence by the 
Susquehanna River to a Market, 
with Capital Stock of $150,000, 
Which Is Subsequently Increased to 
$450,000. 

The old Ithaca and Owego railroad 
was built in 1833 to make easier and 
cheaper transportation for merchan- 
dise brought down Cayuga lake to 
Ithaca by boat and drawn thence to 
Owego by teams for shipment down 
the Susquehanna river to the Philadel- 
phia and Baltimore markets. 

At that time the chief products con- 
sisted of salt from Syracuse, plaster 
from Auburn, and flour, grain, and 
lumber from every direction in cen- 
tral New York. At first all the mer- 
chandise was drawn the entire dis- 
tance from the point of production to 
Owego by teams. Finally a ditch was 
dug from the head of Cayuga lake to 
connect with the Erie canal. When 
this water connection was com- 
pleted boats were run down to Ithaca, 
and merchandise brought thence to 
Owego by teams. 

The proposition to build a railroad 
from Syracuse to Owego was first con- 
sidered. Public meetings were held 
at Newark Valley, Berkshire, Rich- 
ford, Dryden and other places to cre- 
ate a sentiment in favor of such road. 
But when the water connection was 
made between the Erie canal and Cay- 
uga lake the plan was changed. 



441 

The first railroad constructed in the 
United States was built only six years 
previous, in 1827, and that was a horse 
railroad from the granite quarries of 
Quincy, Mass., to the Neponset river, 
a distance of three miles. And the Ith^ 
aca and Owego railroad was incorpor- 
porated only a year later. 

The second railroad was laid out in 
January, 1827. from the coal mines of 
Mauch Chunk, Pa., to the Lehigh 
river a distance of nine miles. In 1828 
the Delaware & Hudson canal com- 
pany constructed a railroad from its 
coal mines to Honesdale, Pa., the ter- 
minus of its canal, and sent a commis- 
sion to England for the purchase of 
rail iron and locomotives. The loco- 
motives arrived in the spring of 1829. 
The third railroad constructed was the 
Baltimore and Ohio line, commenced 
in 1828. 

The first railroad chartered in the 
state of New York was the Hudson & 
Mohawk railroad from Albany to Sche- 
nectady, April 17, 1826, but its con- 
struction was not begun until 18.30. 
The second railroad chartered in this 
state was the Ithaca & Owego rail- 
road. 

In those days, as has already been 
related, Owego was the outlet from 
the north, by the Susquehanna river, 
for flour, grain, salt, lumber, plaster, 
etc., and for many years this part of 
the state was the source of supply for 
such merchandise. Much of it came 
by the way of Ithaca to Owego and 
was transported down the river in 
arks. The steamboat having proved 
a failure as a means of transporting 
freight, the next project was a rail- 
road. 



442 

The Ithaca & Owego railroad was 
organized by capitalists living at Owe- 
go and Ithaca, prominent among 
whom was .lames Pumpelly. The mat- 
ter was first agitated in 1827. 

It had at first been proposed to 
build a canal between Owego and Ith- 
aca, as a connecting link between the 
waters of the Erie canal and the Sus- 
quehanna river, but when it was found 
that there would be an elevation and 
corresponding depression of 600 feet 
to overcome by lockage, as well as the 
disadvantage of a doubtful supply of 
water, and also that a railroad could 
be built for at least one-third less than 
a canal and could be used at all sea- 
sons of the year while a canal would 
be frozen in the winter months, the 
railroad project was substituted. 

No active measures, however, were 
taken to build the road until the build- 
ing of the Chemung canal from the 
nead of Seneca lake to Elmira threat- 
ened to divert trade from Ithaca and 
Owego. Then Gen. Simeon DeWitt, 
who owned a large tract of land at the 
head of Cayuga lake, and others inter- 
ested in the prosperity of Ithaca and 
Owego, set themselves at work to 
build this road. 

Sept. 20, 1S27, a meeting was held 
at Owego for the j)urpose of taking 
measures to procure from the state 
legislature a grant for a company to 
construct a railroad from Ithaca to 
Owego. At this meeting Mr. Pum- 
pelly was chairman and Stephen B. 
Leonard secretary. A committee com- 
posed of James Pumpelly, Eleazer 
Dana, John H. Avery, John R. Drake, 
and Stephen B. Leonard was ap- 
pointed to confer with a similar com- 
mittee of Ithaca men. On the 31st of 



443 
October a similar meeting was held 
at Ithaca, when a committee com- 
posed of A. D. W. Bruyn. F A. Blood- 
good, Charles Humphrey. Henry Ack- 
ley, and Levi Leonard was appointed 
to confer with the Owego committee. 

These committees met at Philiii 
Goodman's tavern in Owego, where 
the Ahwaga house now stands, on 
November 20 and decided to petition 
the legislature to incorporate a com- 
pany to construct the proposed road. 

The company was duly incorporated 
June 28, 1828, the corporation to con- 
tinue until January 1, 1878. The right 
was granted to construct a single 
or double track railroad from Cayuga 
lake, at or near Ithaca, to the Sus- 
quehanna river, in the village of 
Owego, and to erect and maintain toll 
houses and other buildings along its 
line. The company was empowered 
• to transport, take, and carry prop- 
erty and persons, by the power and 
force of steam, of animals, or of any 
combination of them, which the said 
corporation may choose to employ." 

The rate for transporting freight 
was fixed at three cents a ton a mile, 
and for every pleasure carriage, or 
carriage used for the transportation of 
passengers three cents a mile, in addi- 
tion to the toll by weight for loading. 
The act also provided that "all per- 
sons paying the toll aforesaid may, 
with suitable and proper carriages, 
use and travel upon the said railroad, 
sub.iect to such rules and reg- 
ulations as the said corporation are 
authorized to make." The act was 
to be null and void if the railroad 
should not be built and put into oper- 
ation within three years from the i)as- 
sage of this act. 



444 

The capital stock was fixed at 
$150,000 in shares of $50 each. Lu- 
ther Gere and Andrew D. W. Bruyn, 
of Ithaca, and Charles Pumpelly, of 
Owego, were appointed commissioners 
to open books and receive subscrip- 
tions to stock. December 20 it was 
announced that all the stock had been 
taken. 

A meeting of stockholders was held 
Feb. 10, 1829. at the store of Jesse 
Grant & Son at Ithaca, when nine 
directors were chosen. These direc- 
tors were Francis A. Bloodgood, S. De- 
Witt Bloodgood, Richard V. DeWitt. 
A. D. W. Bruyn, Mynderse VanSchaick. 
Cornelius P. Heermans, James Pum- 
pelly, Alvah Beebe, and Ebenezer 
Mack. Francis A. Bloodgood was 
chosen president, Mr. DeWitt treas- 
urer, and Mr. Mack secretary. 

Two routes were surveyed. One 
was by the valley of the inlet of Cay- 
uga lake and the west branch of Cata- 
tonk creek, through the town of Spen- 
cer. The distance by this route from 
the Inlet bridge to Owego was 36.6 
miles. The other route, which was 
subsequently adopted, was by the val- 
ley of the Six Mile creek, Beaver 
Meadow creek, one of its branches, 
and the east branch of the Catatonk 
creek. The distance from the inlet to 
Owego by this route was 29.6 miles. 

John Randal, Jr., was apppointed 
engineer of the road. He had con- 
structed the New Castle and French- 
town railroad in Pennsylvania, which 
was at that time one of the finest 
pieces of engineering in the United 
States. Ephraim Leach, the builder 
of Leach's mills on the Owego creek, 
in the town of Tioga, was appointed 



445 

superintendent of structure and engi- 
neering at the south end of the road. 

When the survey of the road had 
been completed it was found that the 
original capital of $150,000, which had 
all been taken, was insufficient to con- 
struct it, although at first, for want of 
correct information of the nature and 
expense of railroads, it was supposed 
to be adequate to the purpose. 

March :J, 1S31, a meeting of dele- 
gates from the several parts of the 
country adjacent to and interested in 
the projected railroad, with delegates 
from the coal regions of Pennsylva- 
nia, was held at Philip Goodman's 
tavern in this village. James Pum- 
pelly was chairman and David Wood- 
cock, of Ithaca, secretary. The meet- 
ing appointed a committee, consisting 
of Luther Gere, Jeremiah S. Beebe, 
and Horace Mack, of Ithaca, and 
James Pumpelly, Jonathan Piatt, and 
John R. Drake, of Owego, to confer 
with those who held the stock of the 
road, with a view to a more general 
distribution of such stock. A commit- 
tee was appointed to examine as to 
the practicability and probable ex- 
pense of building the road. 

Several subsequent meetings were 
held. At one of them, on Feb. 17, 
1831, at Ithaca, a committee reported 
that the average tonnage in 1830, con- 
veyed by team from Ithaca to Owego 
was 4,000 tons of plaster, 10,000 
l)ounds of salt, 4r)0 tons of merchan- 
dise, 4,000.000 feet (or 4,000 tons) of 
lumber, and 250 tons of miscellaneous 
articles. 

In 1832 the charter of the company 
was amended by act of the legislature. 



446 

increasing the capital stock to 
$300,000. 

The builders of the railroad were 
Jeremiah S.and Alvah Beebe, brothers, 
who were sons of Col. Jedidiah Beebe, 
of Lynn, Conn., who distinguished 
himself in the battle of New London, 
in 1812. They built the Clinton house 
at Ithaca, and the Fall creek tunnel, 
and also put the first steamboat on 
Cayuga lake. 

The road was constructed in 1833, 
and opened for traffic in April, 1834. 
The track was altogether- different 
from the tracks of the railroads of the 
present day. The proposed mode of 
construction, as detailed by W. A. 
Swift, United States engineer, in the 
"Report and Survey of the Route of 
the Ithaca and Owego Railroad." 
printed in pamphlet form at Ithaca, 
in 1828, was in brief as follows: 

Pits two and one-half feet in depth 
and three feet square were to be dug 
at intervals and filled with broken 
stone. Within three inches of the 
surface of the ground flat stones were 
placed. Across the head of the track 
and resting on these stones were 
placed oak sills, ten inches square and 
seven and one-half feet in length. 
These sills were placed eight feet 
apart. Oak sleepers for the rails, six 
by twelve inches and from 16 to 24 
feet in length, were laid lengthwise 
with the track and fastened to the 
sills with wooden pins. 

The rails were straps of rolled 
wrought iron, two and one-fourth 
inches wide and one-half of an inch 
thick. Holes of oblong shape were 
punched in the rails eighteen inches 
apart, through which four-inch screws 



447 

were driven, to hold them to the 
sleepers beneath. No "fish-plates" 
were nsed, as at the present day to 
connect the ends of the rails, but 
they were cut at the ends diagonally 
and the ends laid close together. 

These rails had one serious defect. 
After having been in use some time, 
the screw heads were apt to break off 
and the pointed ends of the rails, or 
snake heads, as they were called 
would spring up from the track and 
remain up. The result was that 
serious accidents to passengers were 
caused by the "snake heads tearing 
through the floor of passenger coaches 
and injuring passengers. 

The road had but one track, and 
had frequent turn-out or passing 
places, at the present day called 
switches. 

The board of trustees of Owego vil- 
lage, at a special meeting on Sept. 27, 
1833, authorized the railroad company 
to lay its tracks through the public 
park and such parts of the streets to 
and from the public square as might 
be necessary for the purposes of the 
company. Three days later, at a 
meeting of the railroad directors at 
Ithaca, a committee was appointed to 
come to Owego to arrange for a final 
location for the southern terminus of 
the road. Oct. 5, two members of the 
committee, William N. Collins and 
Julius Ackles; met the engineer-in- 
chief at this place, who submitted the 
various surveys. 

It was decided to enter the village 
through lands of Elizur Talcott, David 
P. Tinkham, and Mrs. Mary A. Lan- 
ing and the village park. Mr. Talcott 
gave the company a right of way sixty 



448 

feet wide through his farm. The road 
was accordingly extended into this 
village between his dwelling house 
and the public highway (now North 
avenue.) It ran from Ithaca to Owe- 
go over the line of what is now the 
Cayuga division of the Delaware, 
Lackawana & Western railroad, and 
followed its present course down 
through where the centre of Central 
avenue now is and through the lands 
of Mr. Tinkham and Mrs. Laiiing to 
the park. 

At this time Temple street had not 
been extended from North avenue 
west. Fox street west of North 
avenue was opened only to the rail- 
road track. Between the present 
Temple street and extending nearly 
up to Fox street was a pond known 
for many years as the Dodd pond and 
as "Lake Dodd." To cross the low 
ground on the west side of this pond 
a high embankment was built to a 
level with the ground at each end. 
over which the railroad trains were 
run. The tracks extended down along 
what is now about the centre of Cen- 
tral avenue. 

Previous to the coming of the com- 
mittee from Ithaca to Owego, eleven 
business men of his village, Latham 
A. Burrows, Charles Pumpelly, 
Stephen B. Leonard, William Pum- 
pelly. Jonathan Piatt, Gurdon Hewitt, 
Amos Martin, George Bacon, William 
A. Ely, Francis Armstrong, and James 
Ely. had signed an agreement (dated 
Sept. 28. 1833) to procure conveyances 
to the railroad company, or to pay 
the damages that might be assessed 
by commissioners, for such land as 
the company should need for depot 



449 
purposes. But no depot was ever 
built. 

It was arranged that the road 
should enter the north end of the 
park, a little east of the centre there- 
of. At the southeast corner of the 
park the road turned into Front street 
on a curve and ran up that street a 
little south of its centre to the old 
Owego hotel, which stood where the 
Ahwaga house now stands. 

A switch was placed in the track a 
little east of Church street, so that 
freight cars could be run on another 
track. This track extended down un- 
der the long row of wooden stores 
which then occupied the site of the 
present brick ones, and was about 
twelve feet below the level of Front 
street. Cars were thus enabled to 
discharge their contents of salt, plas- 
ter, grain, etc., into arks and upon 
rafts, to be floated thence down the 
river. 

Previous to the building of this 
railroad teams could be driven with 
tneir loads down to the river through 
two lanes, or alleys, one of which was 
between the stores of Dr. Jedediah 
I' ay and Gurdon Hewitt, and the other 
between the Laning storehouse and 
Ely s hat store. Upon the road along 
the river under the stores the railroad 
tracks were laid. 

Another switch at the south end of 
the park allowed cars to be turned on 
to another track which crossed Front 
street just below the bridge into Wil- 
liam H. Piatt's storehouse. 

The first passenger conveyances 
used on this railroad were similar to 
the old stage coaches, the driver sit- 
ting on the box and driving one horse. 
Freight was carried on small flat cars 



450 

about twenty feet in length, with sides 
about four feet high, drawn by two 
horses. The horses were driven tan- 
dem, for the reason that they had to 
walk between the two rails and there 
was not room for them to go side by 
side. A "train" consisted of two cars. 
Coming south from Ithaca these flat 
cars were loaded with merchandise; 
retui-ning north they were usually 
empty. Each freight car had four 
wheels, which were made open, with 
spokes. Later, when a locomotive was 
used to draw freight cars the passen- 
ger coach was usually attached to the 
rear of the freight cars. 

A reproduction of the time table of 
the Ithaca and Owego railroad, issued 
in circular form in 1838, is here re- 
produced. It was originally used to 
illustrate an article in the Railway 
Gazette a few years ago, written by 
Herbert T. Walker. The "burden 
ears" mentioned in the circular and 
which were required to pay toll at the 
rate of three cents a ton a mile, were 
owned by individuals, who under the 
provisions of the charter of the road, 
could have them added to the com- 
Ijany's trains at certain points along 
the route. 

Such an appliance as a brake for 
car wheels was at this time unknown, 
and it was somewhat difficult to regu- 
late the speed of trains on a down 
grade. Sometimes an iron bar, simi- 
lar to a handspike, would be placed 
in the spokes of a wheel and pressing 
up against the front of the car. This 
would block the motion of the wheel, 
causing it to slide on the track and 
acting as a brake. 



451 




452 

The first locomotive was used on 
this railroad in 1844. It is said to 
have been built at Auburn and was 
so constructed as to consume its own 
smoke. It was called the "Pioneer" 
and was manufactured in the state 
prison by convict labor. Its smoke 
stack was similar in shape to a piece 
of stove pipe. Its frame was of wood. 
Its boiler was covered with a coating 
of wood, painted drab. The boiler 
was supplied with water by a hand 
pump through a hose. The water was 
kept in a large hogshead on a flat car. 

The engine was a failure. The 
steam chamber was too large for the 
boiler, and steam could not be made 
fast enough. The chamber was sub- 
sequently altered. The locomotive 
was afterward reconstructed and the 
wooden frame was replaced with an 
iron one. 

The locomotive was a slow affair. 
It ran only about as fast as a horse 
could trot. On its first trip from Ith- 
aca it ran all right until it reached a 
point a little north of Candor, when it 
could be run no further, as the engi- 
neer could not obtain sufficient steam. 
It had to be finally hauled back to 
Ithaca by horses. Frequently the 
steam would run down, causing the 
train to stop running entirely. Then, 
while the fireman was getting up 
more steam the passengers would sit 
on the bank at the side of the track 
and pass away the time playing cards 
or pick berries along he way. This is 
said to have been the origin of the 
term, "huckleberry train." Later a 
more competent engineer was found 
and no further difiiculty was exper- 
ienced. 



453 

The locomotive made one trip with 
freight each day to Ithaca and re- 
turn and the horse car one trip at 
night. The time between Ithaca and 
Owego was six hours, or about seven 
miles an hour, but on one occasion 
the trip was m.ade in four and one- 
half hours. 

It is related that in 1844 a Whig 
mass meeting was held in Ithaca. 
That day a load of Owego Whigs rode 
over to Ithaca on the train to attend 
the meeting. At Candor the track was 
so slipj)ery with oil that the locomo- 
tive could not proceed until the rails 
had been covered with sand. The 
story went abroad that the Democrats 
had greased the track. but it afterward 
appeared that the trouble had been 
caused by a leaky barrel of oil. 

The same day Philip Mosher, son of 
Seth Mosher, who for many years kept 
the Central house in Owego, drove 
over to Ithaca on the railroad track 
with his horse and the old passenger 
coach. In returning he became tired 
of waiting for the train to leave, and 
swore that if it did not start within 
ten minutes he would go on ahead of it 
with the coach, and he did. He had 
hardly got out of sight when the train 
started. Some idea of the speed of 
the train can be gathered from the 
fact that after Mr.Mosher had reached 
tne Half Way house and had stopped 
to water his horse, the locomotive 
came in sight just as he drove on. 
While the iron horse took water Mr. 
Mosher obtained another good start. 
When he drove into the park in this 
village,the train was behind him,about 
where Temple street is now. He 
made the trip in a few minutes more 
than three hours. 



454 

About a year after the chamber of 
the locomotive had been altered a dis- 
astrous accident hai)pened, which put 
an end to its usefulness. At six 
o'clock in the evening of May 21, 
1847, while it was hauling a train 
from Ithaca to Owego it broke 
through a bridge at Woodbridge's, 
about six miles north of Owego. The 
bridge had been for some time in an 
unsafe condition. The engineer, D. 
H. Hatch, of Flemingville, and the 
fireman, A. Dickinson, of Danby, were 
both instantly killed. This was the 
last trip that Mr. Hatch had intended 
to make over the road. He fell under 
the locomotive, which crushed in his 
breast. 

The "Pioneer" was never afterward 
used to draw trains. It stood on a 
switch west of North avenue in this 
village for a time. When the D., L. 
& W. railroad was completed to 
Scranton, Pa., about the year 1852, it 
was taken to that city, where it was 
used for sawing wood, by blocking it 
up so that the wheels did not touch 
the ground. 

When the locomotive was put on 
the road larger passenger cars were 
used. The new ones were about one- 
third the size of an ordinary passen- 
ger coach on railroads of the present 
day. About twenty-five passengers 
could be seated facing each other in a 
car on seats that ran lengthwise with 
the car, similar to the seats in the 
street cars of the present day. There 
were no stoves in the cars to keep 
passengers warm in the winter. After 
the accident at Woodbridge's all the 
cars were drawn by horses, and so 
continued until the road was rebuilt 
in 1850. 



455 

One of the passenger cars that was 
put on the old horse railroad during 
its latter days, continued to be used 
after the railroad was reconstructed 
and larger and improved locomotives 
were used. It was built in Connecti- 
cut in 1848 and was put on the road 
the next year. It was not taken off 
the road until 1882. 

While the locomotive was used it 
was allowed to run no further than 
the south end of the park. The stores 
on both sides of Front street were 
wooden ones — some of them old rook- 
eries — and it was feared that they 
might take fire from sparks. 

The old locomotive house stood as 
late as 1850 on wnat is now the south- 
west corner of Central avenue and 
Temple street. It was of rectangular 
shape, weather-beaten and unpainted, 
and was large enough to house the 
locomotive and a car or two. A small 
turntable, which was worked by hand, 
stood just south of the engine house. 

The first agent at Owego of the Ith- 
aca and Owego railroad was Jonathan 
Piatt, whose office was at his store on 
the south side of Front street, oppo- 
site the Owego hotel. When Mr. Piatt 
sold his store to Taylors & Bell, W. C. 
Taylor became the agent. At the same 
time Allen Storrs & Ball were agents 
for the People's line of insured boats, 
running between Ithaca and New 
York city, and another line running 
from Ithaca to Buffalo, and received 
freight here for all points beyond 
Ithaca. 

The passenger cars started from in 
front of the Owego hotel at 4 o'clock 
in the morning of each day, and were 
met half way between Ithaca and 



456 
Owego by another train, which left 
Ithaca at about the same hour. 

The capital stock of the railroad 
was increased to $450,000 by act of 
the legislature, passed May 3, 1834, 
just after the completion of the road. 

April 18, 1838, another act was 
passed by the legislature, authorizing 
the comptroller to deliver to the rail- 
road company special certificates of 
stock of $1,000 each to the amount of 
$250,000, bearing annual interest of 
five and one-half per cent. For this 
loan the state took a lieu upon the 
road and its equipment. 

May 14 1840, another act of the leg- 
islature authorized the comptroller of 
the state to issue and deliver to the 
railroad company certificates of stock 
of this state to the amount of $28,000. 
to bear interest at six per cent. 

The state loan amounted to about 
$8,655 a mile, and the interest was to 
have been paid semi-annually. But 
the panic of 1837 proved fatal to the 
Ijrospects of the road. When the first 
semi-annual interest became due its 
payment was not forthcoming, and 
when default was again made in the 
])ayment of the second semi-annual 
interest the comptroller, Azariah C. 
Flagg, advertised the road for sale at 
auction. After at least one postpone- 
ment, the sale was made May 20, 1842, 
and the property was struck off to 
Archibald Mclntyre and others for 
$4,500. The rolling stock was subse- 
quently sold to the Cayuga & Susque- 
hanna railroad company for about 
$50,000. 

April 18, 1843, the state legislature 
passed an act constituting Mclntyre 
and the several persons to whom he 
might assign any portion of the old 



457 

Ithaca & Owego railroad a body cor- 
porate by the name of the Cayuga & 
Susquehanna railroad, such corpora- 
tion to continue until January 1, 1900. 
The capital stock was fixed at $18,000 
and divided into shares of $15 each. 

Three years later the road was re- 
built with heavy T s^^aped rails, as it 
is to-day. The contractors were Jones & 
btearns, of New Hampshire. Wallace 
W. Barden, who had built railroads for 
these contractors in the eastern 
states, came here in September, 1849, 
and had charge of the reconstruction 
of the road as foreman. He brought 
about eighty men with him from New 
Hampshire. The road from the top of 
the hill at Ithaca to Owego was com- 
pleted Dec. 17, 1850. The road down 
the hill into Ithaca was finished a year 
later. 

After the completion of the New 
York and Erie railroad to Owego in 
1849, the track of the Cayuga & Sus- 
quehanna railroad was built on a 
curve from the main track near Mc- 
Master street to the New York & Erie 
station, east of North avenue, and the 
trains, which were drawn by heavy 
locomotives of the modern type were 
run to that station. An effort had 
been made in July, 1848, to induce the 
village trustees to use their influence 
to have the track through the park 
torn up and the railroad discontinued. 
This was not accomplished, however, 
until the summer of lo.iO, a year after 
the cars had been running to the New 
York & Erie station. 

On the first of January, 1855, the 
Cayuga & Susquehanna road was 
leased to the Delaware, Lackawanna 
& Western railroad company, and is 
still operated by that company. 



458 

Mr. Barden was appointed roadmas- 
ter of the reconstructed Cayuga & 
Susquehanna road and continued as 
roadmaster thirty-six years until the 
main line of the Delaware Lacka- 
wanna & Western railroad was built 
from Binghamton to Owego and the 
two roads were connected by building 
the iron bridge across the Susque- 
hanna river at the foot .of William 
street. Then the tracKs connecting 
the road with the New York & Erie 
railroad station were removed and 
trains were run to the D., L. & W. 
station, south of L..e rive/. 



Some Account of the Early Inns in the 
Days when Travellers Were Enter- 
tained at Log Houses and Later at 
the Pixley, Bates, Deforest, and 
Laning Taverns, and Later at the 
Old Owego Hotel and the Central 
and Tioga Houses. 
In the days of the early settlement 
of Owego the first settlers entertained 
the few travellers who came through 
the woods here at their houses. James 
McMaster, the first settler here, used 
his house on the south side of Front 
street, east of Academy street, as a 
tavern for the accomodation of travel- 
lers until public houses were built 
elsewhere. As the number of settlers 
gradually increased along the roads 
which had been cut through the wil- 
derness, the taverns, many of them 
small ones and roughly constructed of 
logs, increased in number, and within 
a few miles of each other could be 
found some sort of a house where 
teamsters and the occasional traveller 
on foot or by stage could obtain lodg- 
ing and refreshment. Some of these 



459 

were simply dwelling houses, with 
limited accomodations for guests, 
while later ones were more preten- 
tious in size, with a barroom attach- 
ment, but little less primitive in their 
appointments. 

One of the first of these inns was 
the house long known as the Pixle.v 
tavern in Goodrich settlement in the 
town of Tioga. Others were the Bates 
anu Deforest taverns at Owego. Abner 
Turner built a tavern north of Owego 
in the town of Tioga, near the red 
mills. Two miles distant on the old 
Ithaca and Owego turnpike was Wool- 
verton"s tavern, a little log house. 
Woolverton later built a two-stor.v 
taveni on the opposite side of the 
road, under the bank. The next tav- 
ern was Daniel Bacon's, about a mile 
this side of Candor. The next ones 
on the turnpike were at Candor and 
Candor corners. The turnpike gate 
nearest to Owego was just north of 
Woolverton's tavern. 

The house built by Col. David Pix- 
ley and occupied by him as a dwelling 
house and tavern still stands in the 
town of Tioga. It was l3uilt in 1791. 
It is at the right hand side of the high- 
way as one goes from Owego toward 
"Glenmary"' and a few rods north of 
the road. 

One unacquainted with its history 
would naturally wonder why it should 
stand at right angles with the high- 
way and with its rear toward the 
road. At the time it was built the old 
road ran along on the northeast or 
front side of the building, and ex- 
tended down the hill to the Indian 
spring, near which, on the Owego 
creek. Col. Pixley built a grist mill. 



460 

Here the road crossed the creek and 
came through Owego. 

Like all buildings constructed at 
that time, it was built of heavy timber 
and the nails and all the iron work 
were forged by a blacksmith. In 1802 
Col. Pixley sold the house to judge 
Noah and Eliakim Goodrich, who 
bought also all of Col. Pixley's large 
tract of land there. Judge Goodrich 
lived and died in the tavern and his 
son, Ephraim, lived there afterward. 

There was another small tavern in 
those days kept by Sam Stafford. It 
was a small one and stood on the west 
side of the Owego creek in the town 
of Tioga, on the north side of the 
highway leading from Main street out 
of this village. It stood about where 
the gateway to the "Vesper Cliff" 
property now is. 

The first tavern built in this village 
was for many years known as the 
Bates tavern and stood on the north- 
west corner of Front and Church 
streets, where the Ahwaga house is 
now. Church street had not been 
opened as a street at that time, and 
the only highway through Owego was 
the river road, now known as Front 
street. Capt. Luke Bates purchased 
the land of James McMaster Nov. 12, 
1795, and erected thereon a tavern, in 
one part of which was a small country 
store. It was built of timber and 
planks, was two stories high, and was 
painted red. In front was a long por- 
tico, with benches thereon. The 
horse sheds were on the bank of the 
river on the opposite side of the road. 
A red barn stood west of the tavern, 
with a small space of ground between 
the two buildings. June 17, 1800, 
Capt. Bates purchased of David 




THE OLD PIXLEY HOUSE IN GOODRICH SETTLEMENT. 



461 

Humphrey the hmd in the rear, un 
what is now the southwest corner of 
Main and Church streets, on which 
was a dwelling house and barn. The 
entire property was sold by Capt. 
Bates February 17, 1803, to George 
Stevens, of Canaan, Conn., and 
Charles Pumpelly for $3,500. 

Capt. Luke Bates was the first set- 
tler west of Union, Broome county 
(then Tioga county.) While living 
there, in 1791, he represented the 
town of Union in the board of super- 
visors. He had been a sea captain. 
The exact date of his settlement at 
Owego is not known. He was one of 
those to whom James McMaster, the 
original owner of all the land now oc- 
cupied by the village of Owego, sold 
much of his land. He came here, 
probably, about the year 1791, as 
deeds of the village lots given by him 
in that year are on record in the 
Tioga clerk's office. After he sold his 
tavern he removed about two miles 
east of Owego. and settled on the 
Little Nanticoke creek, where he lived 
on the north side of the road and con- 
ducted a whiskey distillery. At the 
time of his coming to Owego he was 
a prosperous man of business, but ad- 
dicted to drink. He became very in- 
temperate and died ten years after 
the sale of his tavern and store. 

Capt. Bates was one of the three 
original trustees of "Owego settle- 
ment" appointed by James McMaster 
in the deed executed in February, 
1797, giving to the settlement the land 
now occupied by the village park, the 
county jail, and the old Owego acad- 
emy. Sept. 4, 1813, soon after his 
death, a meeting of the inhabitants 
was held and Eleazer Dana was elect- 



462 

ed trustee in his place. Pumpelly and 
Stevens kept the tavern and in con- 
nection therewith the store until Jan- 
uary 30, 1804, when Stevens sold his 
interest in the tavern property to Mr. 
Pumpelly, together with a village lot 
in Back (now Main) street for $1,200. 

The square now bounded by Front. 
Lake, Main, and Church streets, com- 
prised four village lots of equal size. 
The two lots comprising the western 
half were owned by James Caldwell, 
and the eastern half was the tavern 
property. 

At the west end of the tavern was 
a ball room, where social functions 
were occasionally held. This ball 
room had been the place for holding 
all public meetings, and it answered 
the purpose of a town hall for many 
years. 

The first town meeting of the town 
of Tioga (now Owego) was held at 
the Bates tavern April 3, 1800. After 
the court house at Spencer was 
burned in 1821 and until a new one 
was built at Owego in 1823 all sales 
of real estate at mortgage foreclosure 
were made at this tavern. While the 
court house was building the courts 
were held in the ball room of the tav- 
ern. 

For many years all business centred 
around the s])ot and property in that 
vicinity until as late as 1830 was 
worth fully twenty per cent, more 
than property in any other part of the 
vilage. But everything was changed 
in 1850. In 1849, the year when the 
hotel was burned, the New York and 
Erie railroad was completed to Owe- 
go. Previous to that time the great 
stage thoroughfare was Front street 
and the Owego hotel was the stage 



463 
depot. The cars of the old Ithaca and 
Owego horse raih'oad also ran to the 
hotel. After the burning of the hotel 
the business went temporarily to the 
Central and Tioga houses, which for a 
time were in the centre of business. 
The New York and Erie railroad di- 
verted business from the old thorough- 
fare. Lake street, Main street, and 
North avenue were gradually built up 
with substantial stores as old build- 
ings were burned or torn down and 
the business of the village was grad- 
ually and entirely changed. 

Charles Pumpelly conducted the 
store and kept the Bates tavern until 
1815, when he removed to a large and 
handsome residence he had built and 
which occupied the lots on the north 
side of Front street where the homes 
of judge Mead and Miss Anna M. 
Dean now stand. Daniel Churchill 
then leased the tavern of Mr. Pum- 
pelly and kept it two years. In 1818, 
Edward Edwards, of Berkshire, who in 
1815 had been landlord of the old Lan- 
ing tavern, moved in and he also re- 
mained two years. The next landlord 
was Erastus S. Marsh, who had been 
a clerk in John Hollenback's store 
and who took possession in 1820. 
Marsh was fond of liquor and did not 
do a profitable business. He failed 
and Jonathan Piatt took possession 
of the tavern, rather than have it 
closed. 

In May, 1824, Philip Goodman came 
from Dansville, Pa., and became land- 
lord. He kept the house until it was 
burned at sundown in March, 1829. 
This fire and the one that burned ma- 
jor Horatio Ross's store in the winter 
of 1826-7, were the first fires of any 
account at Owego. People at this tav- 



464 

ern fire became very much excited, 
and some in their zeal to save prop- 
erty seized the dishes from the supper 
table and threw them into the street. 
One man picked up a handspike and in 
his excited condition ran about and 
broke the tavern windows. A clerk in 
William Pumpelly's store on the south 
side of the street, fearing that the 
store would catch fire, dashed up 
stairs and began to save the stock of 
crockery by throwing it out of the 
window, concluding his work by carry- 
ing a pair of andirons carefully down 
stairs and depositing them in safety 
on the sidewalk. 

On the site of the old tavern Charles 
Pumpelly soon built a three-story 
wooden building, painted white, which 
he called the Owego hotel. It was a 
large house and was regarded as a 
great public improvement. Mr. Good- 
man became landlord upon its com- 
pletion, taking possession Oct. 13, and 
he kept the house until 1832 when he 
left it and became landlord of the 
Laning tavern. Lewis Manning, who 
had been keeping the Laning tavern, 
became landlord of the Owego hotel. 
The house was in possession of Mr. 
Mannning until 1838, when his son, 
Chester J. Manning, became the land- 
lord. Later the two kept it under the 
firm name of L. Manning & Son, until 
June, 1843, when Metzgar Edwards, 
who had been keeping the Eagle tav- 
ern at Elmira, became landlord and 
kept the house about two years. In 
May, 1845, L. Manning & Son again 
became proprietors and kept it until 
the spring of 1848. When it was 
burned in the great fire of September, 
1849, Charles Stebbins had been the 
proprietor about eighteen months. 



465 
While the fire was raging in the street 
below, wiping out the wooden stores 
on both sides of Front street and grad- 
ually approaching the hotel, Mr. Steb- 
bins served breakfast to a large num- 
ber of guests of the house. The fire 
son afterward reached the hotel and it, 
too, was soon wiped out of existence. 

The Deforest Tavern. 

One of the earliest taverns at Owe- 
go was the Deforest tavern, which 
stood at the northeast corner of Front 
and Paige streets. It was a large 
building with high steps in front, and 
all the stages stopped there. It is not 
known when this house was built, but 
it was about the year 1800. It was 
kept by Ira Deforest, of whom little 
is known here now. He had a daugh- 
ter, Huldah Deforest, who lived later 
on a lot on the east side of North 
avenue, which lot she purchased of 
Elizur Talcott, Jr., and which extend- 
ed on that street from Fox to John R. 
street. Several yards back from the 
avenue she built a small house where 
she lived several years. She was 
a seamstress. She removed some- 
where in the west, where she mar- 
ried a man named Douglass. They 
had two daughters, Ellen and Julia 
Ann Douglass. Julia Ann was mar- 
ried to John W. Merritt, of New York 
city. Their son, Gen. Wesley Merritt, 
became one of the most prominent 
officers in the United States army. 
The North avenue and Fox street 
house and lot were sold in August, 
1830, by the Merritts to judge John R. 
Drake for $200. 

The Deforest tavern was kept at 
one time by Ebenezer B. Gregory and 
was for many years known as the 



466 

Gregorj' house. One of the early laud- 
lords was Ebeuezer Backus, who came 
troin Athens, Pa. Mr. Deforest be- 
came landlord of the old Laning 
tavern and died while keeping that 
house. 

Mr. Backus was a slaveholder and 
owned two slaves. He held the office 
of clerk of the town of Owego in 1814. 
He lived here but a few years and re- 
turned to Athens in 1816. Mrs. Louise 
Welles Murray's "History of Old Ti- 
oga Point and Early Athens" gives 
considerable information concerning 
Mr. Backus. He came to Athens from 
Windham, Conn., about the year 1812. 
He was a son-in-law of Col. Eleazer 
Lindley, who was an active officer of 
the "Jersey Blues" in the revolutionary 
war and was in the Sullivan expedi- 
tion. Mr. Backus was travelling agent 
for the post office department several 
years. He died at Athens in 1831. 

Lewis Manning succeeded Mr. 
Backus as landlord of the Deforest 
tavern in 1816. DeWitt Clinton once 
visited Owego and was a guest at this 
house. It was afterward for many 
years occupied as a dwelling house. 
When Arba Campbell built the brick 
house now owned by Mrs. Gorham on 
the corner, he removed the old tavern 
building around the corner on the east 
side of Paige street, where it stood un- 
til I'JUl, when it was torn down and a 
large double tenement built in its 
place, by Lyman T. Stanbrough. 

The Old Laning Tavern. 
The old Laning tavern, later known 
as the Franklin house, stood on the 
north side of Front street, near Court 
street. At an early day the land at 
the northeast corner of these two 



467 

streets was owned by Amos Draper, 
who purchased it of James McMaster, 
the origmal owner. June 4, 1792, Mr. 
Draper sold twelve village lots to 
Capt. Mason Wattles. Eight of these 
lots comprised all the land on the 
north side of Front street between 
Paige and Church streets. Capt. Wat- 
tles failed in business and on Feb. 7, 
1799, all of his property, including the 
square bounded by Front, Lake, Main, 
and Court streets, was seized for a 
debt of £578. 2s. 4d. and costs by 
Jacob Conkline, a New York mer- 
chant and sold at sheriff's sale 
for $552. The lots on which the sher- 
iff's residence, the old academy build- 
ing, and the county clerk's office now 
stand were not included in this sale, 
as they had been previously deeded 
to the trustees of Owego sttlement by 
James McMaster in February, 1799. 
Nov. 20, 1802, Mr. Conkline sold the 
property to Robert Bowne, another 
New York merchant, for $1,000. Feb. 
14, 1804, Mr. Bowne sold to Gen. John 
Laning the lot at the corner of Front 
and Court streets for $600. 

This lot was just one-fourth of the 
Front, Lake, Main, and Court street 
square. It was on a part of this 
ground that the old Laning tavern was 
built. The house stood close to the 
walk on Front street and was several 
feet east from the Court street corner. 

At what time the tavern was con- 
structed cannot be accurately ascer- 
tained. The framework of large hewn 
logs was first erected for a .iail and 
stood partially enclosed and roofed 
for a long time. The interior was a 
resort for stray domestic animals, no 
ordinance providing for the imi)Ound- 
ing of stray quadru])eds being en- 



468 

forced in those days, if any was in ex- 
istence. This framework Gen. Laning 
covered with clapboads and converted 
it into a tavern and store. It was two 
stories high and had two long stoops 
in front, the one above the other, ex- 
tending along its entire front. 
Wnether the building was ever paint- 
ed or not is uncertain, but in its later 
days (it was burned in 1849) it had a 
dingy, yellow, wood-colored appear- 
ance. 

Gen. Laning Kept the house from 
the time of its construction until 1815. 
when Edward Edwards, of Berkshire, 
became the landlord. In 1817 Mr. Ed- 
wards was succeeeded by Abraham 
Post, of Albany, and he in December 
of the same year by Ebenezer B. 
Gregory, who changed the name of 
the tavern to the "Union Coffee 
House." Mr. Gregory kept the tavern 
a portion of a year and moved out 
while Gen. Laning was down the river. 
When Gen. Laning returned he was 
surprised to find that his wife had 
taken possession of the house and 
was conducting the business until his 
return. 

Mr. Gregory was an uncle of 
Stephen B. Leonard. He afterward 
kept a general country store in Cald- 
well row. He died at Owego, Feb. 8, 
1837, aged about 81 years. 

Amos Martin was the landlord in 
1819 and remained until 1823 when 
Lewis Manning took the house and 
kept it until 1825 when he removed to 
Greene, Chenango county. Capt. 
Stephen T. Smith then took posses- 
sion. His occupancy of the house was 
brief, Mr. Manning again taking pos- 
session in 1826 and keeping it until 
lo30 when Stephen B. Leonard kept 



469 

the house for a year. Mr. Manning 
agahi became the landlord in 1831. 
The next year he removed to the 
Owego hotel and Philip Goodman left 
the Owego hotel aiid took the "Coffee 
House." Mr. Goodman kept the house 
until his death. He died Aug. 25, 1838, 
aged 53 years. His widow, Jane 
Goodman, continued the business until 
March, 1841, when she removed to the 
south side of the river, where she kept 
a tavern opposite the toll house of the 
old Owego bridge several years. One 
of Mr. Goodman's advertisements pub- 
lished in the Owego Gazette a year 
previous to his death reads as follows: 

"His house is large and commo- 
dious, his fare of the best quality, 
and his faculty, whether Bank or Anti- 
Bank, Whigs, Conservatives, or Loco 
B ocos, is good as ever. His prices are 
as reasonable as can be afforded, and 
that there may be 'no mistake!' he 
has fixed them as follows: Meals, 25 
cents. Lodging 121/2 cents. Horse- 
keeping 3s. each, per night, including 
oats, &c. Everything else in propor- 
tion. . . . Persons wishing to take 
the stage will be called up at any hour 
in the night they may desire." 

rhe Franklin House. 

William H. Muzzy, who died at Owe- 
go Aug. 27, 1879, succeeded Mr. Good- 
man and changed the name of the tav- 
ern to the Franklin house. In 1844 
he went to Binghamton and took the 
Binghamton hotel and Justus Picker- 
ing and Jacob Dietz came from Una- 
dilla and became proprietors of the 
Franklin house. They remained in 
charge of the tavern but a short time. 
Mr. Dietz died at Oneonta many years 
ago. Mr. Pickering removed to Bing- 
hamton, where he died Sept. 1, 1880, 
aged 68 years. He was at one time 



470 

the owner of a glue factory, about a 
mile north of this village. 

James D. and John E. Park suc- 
ceeded Pickering & Dietz and kept 
the house until Dec. 1, 1844. James 
Park afterward went to New York 
and was travelling agent for the New 
York and Washington telegraph line, 
a portion of which line the Park 
brothers constructed. 

Ephraim B. Garland, who was killed 
by the cars at Owego June 10, 1879, 
succeeded the Park brothers and was 
landlord of the house until it was 
burned in the great fire of Septem- 
ber, 1849. 

The Lake Street House 
Amos Draper, the Indian agent and 
trader, was owner, by purchase of 
James McMaster, of an acre of ground 
on what is now the southeast corner 
of Main and Lake streets and which 
was one-fourth of the square now 
bounded by Lake, Main, and Church 
streets and the Susquehanna river. 
On the corner of this lot now stands 
the new Owego hotel. 

Draper sold the lot to Capt. Mason 
Wattles for four pounds sterling ($20) 
on Aug. 12, 1793. Capt. Wattles sold 
the lot to Robert Bowne, a New York 
merchant for $150 on Nov. 20, 1802. 
Subsequently the corner i)assed suc- 
cessively through the hands of James 
Caldwell, Asa Tryer, and Stephen B. 
Leonard. Tryer was a blacksmith and 
ais shop was near the corner. During 
Mr. Leonard's ownership his stage of- 
fice was in a small building on the 
corner. 

June 20, 1825, Mr. Leonard sold the 
lot to James and William A. Ely, who 
in 1829 erected a tavern thereon, which 



471 

stood where the Owego hotel is now. 
The tavern cost about $1,200 and was 
pamted white. It was known as the 
"Lake Street House." The first land- 
lord was Alanson Dean. In 1831 the 
tavern was leased to William F. John- 
son and his brother-in-law, Thomas 
Jackson, who kept it until 1834, when 
they bought land in North avenue and 
built thereon the Tioga County house. 

The Ely brothers sold the tavern 
stand to Sheldon Osborn Jan. 8, 1833, 
while it was occupied by Johnson and 
Jackson. May 27, 1834, Osborn sold 
the house to Robert Manning and Rob- 
ert Brown. He then went into the 
general mercantile business with Ham- 
ilton Ketchum, of Massachusetts. 
Their place of business was in a store 
which had been built about the year 
1833 by Osborn and which stood just 
above the bridge in Front street. It 
was the same store which was after- 
ward occupied by James Bassett and 
which was set on fire by Bassett and 
burned in the night of Feb. 13, 1839, 
for the purpose of defrauding an in- 
surance company. Osborn also built 
the house in east Main street which 
is now owned and occupied by W. L. 
Hoskins. This house Osborn after- 
ward traded for some Pennsylvania 
land with J. B. Shurtleff, who was the 
editor of the Owego Gazette. Shurt- 
leff's title to the land proved not to be 
good and Osborn lost the land. The 
firm of Osborn & Ketchum lasted less 
than a year, owing to business dis- 
agreement which culminated in blows 
and a dissolution of partnership. Os- 
born then went into partnership with 
William P. Stone, which partnership 
continued two years. He afterward 



472 

went west, where he lived until his 
death. 

Brown and Manning kept the tavern 
three years. They then rented it to 
Seth Mosher two years, selling the 
property May 7, 1839, to Mosher. Mr. 
Manning was a carpenter and bridge 
builder. He died at Owego July 6, 
1863, from injuries received in falling 
from a building, on which he was at 
work. Mr. Brown also died in Owego 
April 24, 1869. 

Mosher, assisted by his three sons, 
kept the tavern until 1845, when one 
of the sons, Sherman Mosher, and his 
son-in-law, James M. Reed, became 
landlords of the house. Mr. Reed was 
a cabinet maker and had worked in 
Gen. Isaac B. Ogden's cabinet shop on 
the opposite side of Main street. 

The Mosher Tavern. 

While under the management of 
Mosher & Reed, the tavern, which had 
been known as the Mosher tavern, was 
burned. The fire broke out soon after- 
midnight in the night of April 27, 1846, 
in a shed attached to the tavern barn. 
The hotel and barn were burned, to- 
gether with William Duncan's house 
and shop, which stood east of the ho- 
tel, together with a house and barn 
owned by Charles Pum])elly and occu- 
pied by George Riley at the southeast 
corner of Main and Church streets. 

Soon after the fire anonymous let- 
ters were received by various Owego 
citizens from Cayuga county. Some 
were written with a pen, others were 
clumsily printed from metal tyi)e. 
Charles R. Barstow, who was then 
sheriff of Tioga county, deputized John 
C. leaning and Caleb J. Chaffee to ap- 
prehend the supposed writer. They 



473 
went to Genoa, Cayuga county, where 
they found and arrested a frightened 
half-witted fellow named Benjamin 
Moe and brought him to Owego. 

Willard Foster, who then lived about 
six miles out of this village, was also 
arrested, charged with having set the 
fire. The ground for his arrest was 
that he had made threats against 
Mosher previous to the fire. His trial 
began in the court of oyer and termi- 
ner Aug. 26, 1846. 

It appeared on the trial that Moe, 
who was a fortune teller, was a rela- 
tive of Foster. Two weeks before the 
fire Foster went to Moe's house and 
induced him to copy a letter and send 
the copies by mail to Owego. These 
letters were written for the purpose 
of throwing suspicion of having set a 
previous fire upon a certain resident 
of Owego and prevent him from be- 
coming a witness in a suit against Fos- 
ter for the alleged burning of a pile of 
boards, which suit was set down for 
trial in the following June. Foster 
was tried for burning the tavern and 
was defended by Daniel S. Dickinson. 
The jury rendered a verdict of not 
guilty and he was discharged. 
The Central House. 
The tavern was immediately rebuilt 
by Seth Mosher. The new house was 
larger than the old one and was com- 
pleted in 1847. It was opened Sept. 
3 under the name of the Central house) 
and it was known as the Central house 
until it was demolished in 1906. 

It is a little remarkable that the 
Central house should have so long 
withstood destruction by flres, which 
burned the buildings all about it at 
various times, and it was finally torn 



474 

down. The fire of 1849 burned u]) the 
entire east side of Lake street to the 
hotel, where its progress was checked. 
In 1854 the buildings on the north 
side of Main street opposite the hotel 
were burned, and the same ground 
was again burned over in 1868. The 
comer on the west side of Lake street 
was burned in 1870. In all these fires 
the Central house stood unscathed. 

Seth Mosher removed from Owego 
to Barton, where he purchased a farm, 
on which he lived until his death, July 
lo, 1852. His sons I'emoved to Michi- 
gan. 

Som* amusing stories were told con- 
cerning Mosher. Once he attempted 
to "bull" the market on silver half 
dimes. The standing price for a drink 
of whiskey was a sixpence. As that 
coin and the half dimes were of nearly 
the same size his patrons insisted up- 
on his receiving the half dime in pay- 
ment for a drink. Here was a clear 
loss of a cent on every glass of liquor. 
In order to get the obnoxious coin out 
of circulation, he conceived the idea of 
locking up every one he received, 
thinking thereby to remove them all 
from the channel of trade. Whether 
he eventually succeeded in getting a 
"corner" on half dimes and securing 
the circulation of nothing but six- 
pences or not, is not known, but as it 
is impossible to bail out the sea with 
a bowl, it is doubtful if his plan was 
an eminent success. 

June 20, 1860, Mr. Reed, who 
had been very successful as a landlord, 
sold the Central house to Frederick 
O. Cable. When Mr. Cable purchased 
the hotel it contained but nine sleep- 
ing rooms. He at once doubled the 



475 
caiiacity of the house and the stables. 
Later he built additions to the build 
ing on both the i^ake and Main street 
ends, increasing the number of sleep- 
mg apartments to forty-three. 

Mr. Reed removed to Elkland, Pa., 
in January, 1864, where he became in- 
terested in an extensive lumber estal> 
lishment. He accumulated a hand- 
some property there, and in May, 1870, 
he removed to Big Rapids, Mich., and 
thence in 1872 to Reed City, Mich., of 
which he and three Newark Valley 
men were the first settlers. Mr. Reed 
and his wife (Albertme Mosher) both 
died the same day on December 17, 
1898, at Reed City, Mich. 

April 20, 1869, Capt. Henry Avers, 
who had been for many years a pas- 
senger conductor on the New York and 
Erie railroad, became landlord of the 
Central house, but the business proved 
uncongenial to his tastes and he gave 
up me house in March, 1870, to Mr. 
Cable's brother-in-law. Burr J. Davis. 
Mr. Davis kept the hotel until March. 
1879, when he purchased and took pos- 
session of the Ahwaga house. 

The house was subsequently man- 
aged by various landlords, among 
whom were C. L. Crandall, Edgar R. 
Buffum, Wm. G. & Alfred L. Gardner, 
D. E. Becker, Daniel J. Brown, Dr. G. 
VV. Simmons, M. W. Brown, S. F. 
Smith, H. J. Hicks, Cornelius Gleason, 
Chas. E. Haight, .lohn H. Rease, Isaac 
L. LaRue, Lewis H. Comstock, and D. 
C. Valentine. 

In November, 1905, when Benj. F. 
Birdsall purchased the house of Mr. 
Cable it was tenantless and in a state 
of dilapidation. In July, 1906, it was 
torn down and the same year the 
Owego hotel was built on its site. 



476 

The Tioga County House. 

Among the lots owned by Amos 
Draper at the time of the early settle- 
ment of Owego was a piece containing 
one acre, which is now the southeast 
corner of Main street and North 
avenue, on which stands O. S. Beach's 
drug store and the brick buildings 
north and east of it. This piece and 
an acre of ground at the southwest 
corner of Lake and Main streets, where 
the Buckbee block and other brick 
buildings west and south of it now 
stand, were subsequently the prop- 
erty of Ebenezer Kimble, a tanner. 
Sept. 14, 1794, Kimble sold the two 
pieces of land to Capt. Mason Wattles 
for £40. The lot at the corner of 
Main street and North avenue was 
sold, after Capt. Wattles's failure in 
business, together with the old Lan- 
ing tavern site and other real estate 
on Sept. 26, 1801, by the sheriff of 
Tioga county to Vincent Matthews, 
who subsequently (Marcn 1, 1802) re- 
conveyed it to Jacob Conkline, a New 
York merchant. On tne 20th of the 
following November Conkline sold the 
lots to Robert Bowne, another New 
York merchant. The acre of land on 
the Main street and North avenue 
corner afterward became the property 
of Eleazer Dana, who December 31, 
1832, sold it to Henry Caldwell and 
.Joseph Kelsey. Mr. Kelsey on April 
1, 1834, sold that portion of the lot on 
which the Tioga County house was 
subsequently built to William T. 
.Johnson and Thomas Jackson. 

On this lot Mr. Jackson the same 
year built a two-story wooden build- 
ing, close to the sidewalk, which oc- 
cupied the ground on which Sporer, 



477 
Carlson & Berry's piano factory and 
the store north of it now stand. When 
finished the building was occupied as a 
residence by Gideon O. Chase. Nearly 
two years afterward Jackson built an 
addition to the nort.i end of the house, 
making the building seventy feet long 
and covering the ground now occupied 
by L. W. Smith's grocery store. A 
double piazza, over which the roof ex- 
tended, ran along the entire front of 
the house. At the back of the hotel 
was a large yard, paved with cobble 
stones, and back of that were the tav- 
ern barns and sheds. The tavern was 
1 lain ted white. It was at this time 
the largest public house in the village. 

When the building was completed, 
in .January, 1836, it was opened as a 
-otel and called the "Tioga County 
House." The house was at first kept 
by Jackson & Johnson. In 1835, John- 
son left the hotel and kept what he 
called a 'refectory" opposite the Old 
Owego hotel in Front street, where he 
sold oysters, etc., and Jackson con- 
tinued the business of the tavern. 
July 11, 1839, they sold the property 
to William P. Raymond, of Bingham- 
ton, and Abram Blackman, Jr., of Can- 
dor. 

Jackson and Johnson were brothers- 
in law. Just before selling the tavern 
Johnson went into partnership with 
Eleazer Valentine and opened a tin, 
copper, stove, and grocery store just 
above the bridge in Front street. 
Jonnson for a time held the office of 
justice of the peace. In 1853 he kept 
the old Hudson house in North 
avenue. He afterward moved to To- 
wanda. Pa., and was landlord there of 
the Claremont house when it was 
burned on March 7, 1856. He died at 



478 

the home of his son, Wirt Johnson, 
at Tioga Centre December 27, 1871, 
aged nearly 78 years. Jackson came 
to Owego from Orange county. He 
went from Owego to Potter county. 
Pa., where he lived on a farm. Later 
he removed to Hornell, where he died 
about the year lbo5. 

Mr. Raymond and William H. Muzzy 
became landlords of the house and 
kept it from the time of its purchase 
by Mr. Raymond during the years 
1839, 1840, and 1841. In May, 1841, 
Mr. Muzzy became landlord of the 
Franklin house in Front street, and 
Mr. Raymond continued to conduct 
the business of the Tioga County 
house until 1843, when he leased it for 
a term of years to William Beach. 
Mr. Raymond did not engage in the 
hotel keeping business again. 

Mr. Raymond was born at Salem. 
Mass. He came to Owego from Bing- 
hamton in 1839, when he purchased 
the hotel property, tie was later en- 
gaged in the livery and grocery busi- 
ness and farming. He held the offices 
of justice of the peace and town super- 
visor, and was member of assembly in 
1858. He died March 4, 1877. 

Mr. Beach was proprietor of the 
house until August, 1846, when it 
passed into the hands of A. M. Coe. 
who had been keeping the Claremont 
house at Towanda, Pa. 

The next proprietor was Seneca B. 
Dennis, who remained in possession 
until October, 1850. When Mr. Dennis 
took the house he cx^anged its name to 
Tioga house, the old name being con- 
sidered by him too suggestive. He 
removed to Corning where he kept 
the Dickinson house. Thence he went 
to Susquehanna, Pa., where he was 



479 
landlord of theConductors' hotel until 
Lis death on January 9, 1855. 

Gideon O. Chase succeeded Mr. Den- 
nis and kept the house until April, 
1852. Mr. Chase was born at Cam- 
bridge, N. Y., in 1808. He came to 
Owego in 1832 and worked as a cabi- 
net maker in Gen. I. B. Ogden's shop. 
He was a good public speaker and a 
man of ability. He was member of 
assembly for Tioga county in 1844 and 
1845, and in 1846 he was defeated for 
congress. He was at one time editor 
of the Owego Gazette and of the Ti- 
oga Freeman, and later of the Union 
at Atchison, Kansas. He was freight 
agent of the Erie railroad at Owego 
and afterward station agent many 
years and until his death at Smith- 
boro. He died March 26, 1887, at 
Smithboro. 

John C. Searles succeeded Mr. 
Chase as landlord, but remained only 
until November, when A. W. Knapi), 
of Danby, took the house and kept it 
a little more than a year. 

In June, 1853, Mr. Raymond sold the 
property to Harvey Teers, of Ithaca, 
who took possession and opened with 
a grand ball on Jan. 27, 1854. He 
kept the house less than a year, sell- 
ing out to Joshua Mersereau, of Camp- 
ville, in November, who was the land- 
lord until March, 1858, when he took 
possession of Joseph S. DeWitt's sa- 
loon and restaurant in Lake street, 
known as "The Shades," and Mr. 
Muzzy again became the proprietor 
of the Tioga house. 

In 1860 Mr. Muzzy had a partner 
named Hulse. Hulse was a rough 
character, who had several years pre- 
vious worked at Owego as a barber. 
He went to New York, where he be- 



480 

came a member of the police force. 
While keeping the Tioga house he 
adopted a rule that no boarder should 
be admitted to the house after the 
regular hour for closing it at night- 
One night a boarder came to the house 
intoxicated and began to kick at the 
door for admittance. Hulse opened a 
window above and shot at his boarder 
with his revolver. The ball passed 
just above the boarder's ear and cut 
off a lock of his hair. After that 
boarders came in at the proper hour. 
Hulse afterward returned to New- 
York. 

Mr. Muzzy was born at Newark Val- 
ley in 1814 and came to Owego in 1S39. 
He was engaged in the livery business 
many years. He died at Owego Aug. 
27. 1879. 

In June, 1861, John J. Horton, of 
Barton, became landlord of the house, 
and in March, 1863, he i)urchased the 
property. In August, 1866, he sold it 
to Samuel S. Watson, of Newark Val- 
ley, who leased it to James Davison, 
who had been keeping the Delevan 
house at Elmria. The name of the 
hotel was changed to Watson house. 
Later it was kept by P. T. Bell, who 
in April, 1868, removed to Port Jervis 
and ])urchased the Quaissalck house. 

The Watson house property was 
sold March 25, 1868, to Joseph Berry 
for $14,000, Mr. Watson reserving the 
l)uildings, which were subsequently 
torn down, and brick stores were 
erected in their place. 

Alanson Dean's Tavern. 

Where the Buckbee block now 

stands at the southwest corner of 

Main and Lake streets Wiliam A. Ely 

had built a wooden building, which 



481 

Alanson Dean converted into a tavern. 
This was previous to the building of 
the Lake street house on the opposite 
corner. A few years later he con- 
verted it into a tin and sheet iron store 
and lived in a part of the building at 
the south end. His partner was Elea- 
zer Valentine. They were in the busi- 
ness there in 1838 and 1839. From 
1839 to 1842 the firm was Valentine & 
Johnson. Nothing is now known of 
Valentine other than what is given in 
a death notice published in the Gazette 
of .June 2, 1845, which reads as fol- 
lows: 

"Death by Intemperance. — Died on 
Tuesday, the 17th inst.. of delirium 
tremens, Eleazer Volentine, aged 3!) 
years." 

The corner was afterward occupied 
as a grocery store by James Cameron, 
Charles T. Bell, and others. It was 
burned Oct. 16, 1870, in a fire which 
burned all the solid row of wooden 
stores and shops extending from the 
old jail building in Main street, now 
the telephone central office, to the L. 
D. Durphy building in Lake street. At 
the time of the fire the corner was oc- 
cupied as a hardware store by Houk. 
Truesdell & Co. 

The Croton House. 

On the west side of Lake street, on 
the ground now occupied by the Hill 
and Parker brick block, stood the 
dwelling house of deacon Lorenzo 
Reeves, one of Owego's early mer- 
chants. Col. Benoni B. Curry, who 
married deacon Reeves's widow, con- 
verted the building into a temperance 
hotel in 1848 and called it the Croton 
house. It was painted white, stood a 
little back of the street, and had a long 
porch in front, as was common to all 



4S2 

the taverns of that time. It was 
burned in the great fire of September, 
1849, the year after it was built. 

When Col. Curry reconstructed the 
building in 1848 he gave a mortgage 
on the property to Abner J. Ely, of 
New York city. As Col. Curry lost all 
his property in the fire, he was miable 
to pay the mortgage, which was fore- 
closed and Mr. Ely purchased the lot. 
In 1862 Mr. Ely sold it to Martin Ash- 
ley, who built a block of three brick 
stores on it, with a large hall on the 
second floor, which he called Ashley 
hall. In 1867 Mr. Ashley sold the prop- 
erty to Dr. James Wilson, who con- 
verted the hall into a theatre. The 
building was burned April 24, 1868, and 
immediately rebuilt. The theatre part 
was partially burned Nov. 9, 1899, and 
the whole block was entirely burned 
in the morning of Feb. 28, 1904. Soon 
afterward judge Charles E. Parker and 
P. C. Hill purchased the site and 
erected the brick block which now 
stands thereon. 

The Mansion House. 
In 1813 .ludge John R. Drake built a 
large farm house on the west side of 
the old Ithaca and Owego turnpike, 
now North avenue. The house was at 
that time far out of the settlement, 
now called Owego, which was not in- 
corporated as a villige until fourteen 
years later. It was a large two-story 
building, painted white, and stood 
among the trees about fifty feet back 
from the highway and a few rods north 
of West avenue. It was occupied by 
judge Drake as a residence until 1832, 
when he removed down into the vil- 
lage, and the building was converted 
into a tavern. Its first landlord was 
Seth Mosher. 



483 

A few years previous to this time 
Mr. Mosher and jacoo Hand, who were 
sawyers, had come to Owego from Ot- 
sego county, having been hired by 
judge Drake to work in his sawmill on 
the south side of the Susquehanna 
river. Mosher had worked there four 
or five years when he opened the tav- 
ern. He did a successful business, and 
was able, in 1839, to purchase the old 
tavern which occupied the ground at 
the Lake and Main street corner on 
which now stands the Owego hotel. 

In June, 1849, the Mansion house, 
which had been entirely refitted, was 
reopened as a public house by Isaac 
B. Gere, judge Drake's son-in-law, who 
kent It until March, 1856. He then 
discontinued hotel keeping, but con- 
tinued to occupy it as a private resi- 
dence. Mr. Gere died at Owego in 
February, 1860. The house was owned 
by Wheeler H. Bris*^ol and unoccupied 
at the time it was burned in the night 
of April 1,3, 1869. 

Legg's Temperance Hotel 

The construction of the New York 
and Erie railroad to Owego, in 1849, 
gave an impetus to hotel building and 
several public houses were opened. 
Some of them were built for hotel pur- 
poses, while others were dwelling 
houses enlarged and converted into 
hotels. Among them were Legg's tem- 
perance hotel, the Railroad house, the 
Western hotel, the Hudson house, and 
the Union house. 

In 1850 a public house was built on 
the west side of Lake street where the 
block now occupied by Cuneo & Bo- 
nugli and A. W. Bunzey stands. 
It was a wooden building and was 
opened by Frank Legg, of Speedsville. 
as a temperance hotel. It did not 



484 

prove to be a profitable investment 
and was soon converted into stores, 
one of wliich was was for several 
years occupied by Charles S. Car- 
micliael as a jewelry store. The build- 
'ing was burned in the night of April 
14, 1872, and Mr. Carmichael erected 
the present brick block in its place. 
The Railroad House. 

The railroad house, afterward known 
as the United States hotel, is still 
standing, a deserted building, at the 
northwest corner of North avenue and 
Delphine street. It was built by Ezra 
S. Clark, a carpenter, who came to 
Owego in December, 1844, from Brook- 
lyn and opened a grocery store on the 
west side of North avenue, opposite 
the Tioga house. In 1848 he built the 
hotel,of which he was the landlord six- 
teen years. In 1865 to 1869 he was 
proprietor of the Ahwaga house. In 
1869 he removed to Brooklyn, where he 
died Aug. 28, 1892, aged 81 years. 

After Mr. Clark sold the hotel it be- 
came the property of various persons 
in succession. It was kept at various 
times by Sidney Calkins, who changed 
its name to United States hotel; by Eli 
English, Joseph B. Day, Marvin Day. 
Mrs. W. A. Melick, P. W. Trimmer, R. 
B. Sigler, Capt. G. W. Lason, Henry 
Wavel, C. D. Watkins, D. C. Graham, 
Brazilla Grover, Henry Tappan, James 
B. Davison, and others. John Hale 
kept the hotel for a short time, when 
it was known as Hale's hotel. 
The Western Hotel. 

The two-story and basement build- 
ing, which still stands at the south- 
west corner of North avenue and Fox 
street, was built by Mrs. Harriet G. 
Tinkham in 1851 and called the West- 



4S5 

lern hotel. It was kept by her soii-hi- 
law, E. G. Gibson. So many other 
hotels had been opened in that part of 
the village that it proved unprofitable 
and after a few years it was closed as 
a public house and occupied by Mrs. 
Tinkham as her residence during the 
rest of her life. 

The Hudson House. 

The Hudson house stood opposite 
the Presbyterian church on the west 
side of North 'avenue, at what is now 
the Temple street corner. The land 
was a part of the estate of Harmon 
Pumpelly, of Albany. 

Col. Jacob Edwards, who had come 
from somewhere on the Hudson river 
to these parts, worked with some 
teams for one of the contractors in 
building the New York and Erie rail- 
road to Owego. In June, 1851, Col. 
Edwards took the land on a contract 
and built a hotel thereon. It was a 
three-story wooden building with a 
long porch in front. The back part 
was above the old Dodd pond and was 
supported by long timber posts extend- 
ing down into the water. It was kept 
by Ephraim B. Garland the first year 
or two and afterward by Col. Edwards, 
\Vm. T. Johnson, Samuel Garland, and 
John Gardiner. It was always con- 
sidered a disreputable place, and one 
of its landlords was arrested for coun- 
terfeiting, while keeping the hotel. 

Soon after the hotel was built it was 
purchased by Hiram N. Moore, of Wa- 
verly, who in July. 1861, gave Col. Ed- 
wards a ten years' lease of it. When 
Wheeler H. Bristol built the iron 
works in Temple street the old hotel 
had been abandoned as a public house 
two or three years. The first floor was 



486 

used for a time as a blacksmith shop 
and storeroom in connection with the 
iron works. It was feared that in its 
dismantled and deserted condition 
some incendiary might be tempted to 
set it on fire, so it was torn down in 
May, 1875. 

The Union House. 
The Union house stood on the west 
side of North avenue, midway between 
Fox street and the Erie railroad and a 
imie north of John R. street. It was 
built in 1851 and was kept several 
years by William Barnes. Later it was 
kept by Vorhees Cafferty and William 
G. Thompson, and afterward by 
Charles Harris,who changed the name 
to Harris house. It was burned Dec. 
29, 1875, while vacant and undergoing 
repairs preparatory to reopening. 

Some Account of the First Brass Band 
Organized at Owego by James Conk- 
lin and of Its Successor, Led by 
Wiliam H. Piatt, together with the 
Bands Led by Lewis W. Truesdell, 
Lemuel W. Ferris, David Wallis 
Reeves, Prof. Joseph Raff, Frede- 
rick E. Wildman, and Others. 

The first musical organization in 
Owego that was dignified by the name 
of a band, came into existence about 
the year 1834. It was organized by 
James Conklin, a wagon maker, who 
lived in a little yellow house, which 
stood on the southwest corner of Main 
and Church streets. 

The band numbered about eight 
persons. Nicholas Kittle was the 
leader and played the clarionet. He 
lived west of the Owego creek oppo- 
site the "deep well" in the town of 
Tioga. The stream called Kittle creek 



487 
takes its name from him. His son. 
Nicholas B. Kittle, removed from this 
vicinity and acquired some distinction 
as a portrait painter. He considered 
the name Kittle rather commonplace, 
and consequently gave it an aristo- 
cratic twist by spelling it "Kittell." 
He removed to Hamilton, N. Y., and 
thence to New York city, where he 
died in 1894. 

■ David A. Allen, generally known as 
Atwood Allen, played a bassoon— a 
black instrument resembling some- 
what a length of stove pipe, with an 
open brass mouth. He lived two miles 
north of the village. He died Dec. 29. 
1861. James Conklin played a piccolo 
flute. Gen. Isaac B. Ogden and Jared 
Huntington were also members. 

The members of the band were ac- 
customed to meet at the houses of the 
different members each week for prac- 
tice. They played for dances, celebra- 
tions, etc. 

This band lasted about ten years, 
when a new set of about a dozen 
younger men, among whom was Wil- 
liam H. Piatt joined the organization 
and the old ones gradually dropped 
out. The newly organized band did not 
retain any of the old instruments ex- 
cept a flute and a clarionet. A man 
named Sykes instructed and led the 
band, and later Mr. Piatt was the 
leader. Five or six years afterward 
the instruments were sold to Charles 
and William Conklin. To these they 
added other instruments, which they 
bought at Union. 

There were three Conklin brothers 
in the band, sons of James Conklin. 
William Conklin played a trombone, 
Charles Conklin an E flat bugle, and 



4HH 

A. Putnam Conklin a coniofteuii. The 
three brothers constituted the band. 
The last playing done by them was 
about the year 1848, when they left 
Owego on a tour, giving concerts in 
vocal and instrumental music. Charles 
Conklin was taken ill at Geneva and 
was brought home, dying soon after- 
ward. The party gave concerts about 
two months. The receipts paid their 
e.xi)enses, but they made no money. 
Wni. S. Huntington took Charles 
Conklin's place in the band, but as A. 
P. Conklin could not stand the strain 
of blowing the E flat bugle, the organ- 
ization was soon broken up. 

Owego succeeded in getting along 
without a band until 1851, when an- 
other one was organized. The mem- 
bers were accustomed to meet for 
practice at the house of .Julius Pearl, 
a milkman, which house still stands 
on the bank of the river in the eastern 
|)art of this village and was known for 
many years as the Hollenback farm 
house. Thomas .T. Canham, a noted 
circus band leader of his day, who 
lived at Binghamton, was instructor. 

Lewis W. Truesdell, who was one of 
the two first men to enlist in the fed- 
eral army at Owego in the civil war 
and in whose honor L. W. Truesdell 
post, G. A. R., is named, was a mem- 
ber of the band and soon became suffi- 
ciently proficient to lead it. He played 
a cornet and Mr. Pearl a tuba. The 
band was in a weak condition for want 
of members until 1853. when Lemuel 
W. Ferris came here from Fort Ed- 
word, N. Y., and joined it. Other ac- 
cessions were the Tennys(a father and 
two sons), Ralph Hibbard, and Wil- 
liam H. Camp. 



489 

Another band was organized in 1855 
by some younger men of from four- 
teen years old upwards, among whom 
were Theo. S. Mersereau. William H. 
Ellis, Cicero B. Curtis, M. E. Hollister, 
Wm. H. S. Bean, Gilbert T. Forsyth, 
and James H. Johnson. A musician 
named Skinner was hired as teacher 
and the band met for practice at the 
old wooden school building in Temple 
street. This band was soon afterward 
consolidated with the Ferris band and 
Mr. Ferris was the leader. 

Later leaders of the band, which 
had been known as the "Owego Brass 
Band," the "Owego Cornet Band," and 
"Ferris's Brass Band," were J. W-. 
Lyons, Nathaniel D. Jenks, Isaiah 
Irwin, and David Wallis Reeves. When 
Mr. Reeves left Owego in 1862, Joseph 
C. Raff became leader of the band and 
its name was changed to "Ahwaga 
Silver Cornet Band." In 1869 Frede- 
rick E. Wildman was leader, and later 
Horace B. Adams. 

In April, 1870, members of Wave 
hose company. No. 2, organized an- 
other band with Prof. Raff as leader. 

There were two bands until the 
spring of 1873 when they were con- 
solidated under the name of "Ahwaga 
Silver Cornet Band," with Prof. Raff 
as leader and Mr. Adams as business 
manager. Dissensions soon followed. 
The band was disbanded and two sepa- 
rate bands were soon reorganized, 
the "Ahwaga Silver Cornet Band" re- 
taining its old name and the new one 
assuming the name of "Prof. Raff's 
Band." The two were finally consoli- 
dated in 1878 under the name of "Owe- 
go Cornet Band," with Prof. Raff as 
musical director and Mr. Adams as 
assistant musical director. Afterward 



490 

Mr. Adams became leader of the baud 
and it was subsequently known as 
"Adams's Cornet Band" during the 
rest of its existence. 

Prof. Raff was a native of Switzer- 
land, a g^ood violinist, but a better 
pianist. He was a brother of the emi- 
nent musical composer, Joachim Raff. 
He came to Owego in 1858. He re- 
moved to Binghamton in 1888 and died 
there July 13, 1893, aged 63" years. 

David Wallis Reeves, the youngest 
son of d^con Lorenzo Reeves, an 
early merchant of Owego, was born in 
1838. He received his musical educa- 
tion in Binghamton, when at the age 
of 15 years he was appenticed to 
Thomas J. Canham, a celebrated band 
leader of his day. At the age of 19 he 
was the leader of a circus band in the 
summer and in the winter played with 
Dodworth's orchestra in New York 
city. He was a few years a member 
of Dodworth's band. In February, 
1866, he became leader of the cele- 
brated American band of Providence,. 
R. I., and was leader of that band at 
the time of his death in March, 1900. 



A Record of the Principal Fires That 
Have Burned Valuable Property at 
Owego from the Burning of the In- 
dian Village by Gen. Sullivan's 
Army in 1779, to the Present Day. 

Within the last sixty years the stores 
and houses in the entire business por- 
tions of Front, Lake, and Main streets 
have been burned and replaced by 
larger and much better buildings. As 
has always been the case in the his- 
tory of villages, its improvement has 
followed disastrous fires. 



491 

The lirst fire at Owego of which 
there is any record was the burning of 
the Indian village by a detachment of 
Cen. Sullivan's army in 1779. 

The next fire of any accomit burned 
Maj. Horatio Ross's store, wiiich stood 
■on the bank of the river on the south 
side of Front street, a little west of 
Lake street. It was a large red build- 
ing, two stories high in front and 
three stories high in the rear. The 
lire broke out at about daylight in the 
winter of 1826-7, and as at that time 
there were no means of extinguishing 
fires except with pails of water in the 
hands of neighbors, the building was 
entirely buraed. At the time of the 
fire the upper floor was occupied by 
an old man named Perry and his fam- 
ily, but the store below was unoccu- 
pied. So rapid was the progress of 
the flames that the occupants had 
barely time to escape from the burn- 
ing building in their night clothes. 
Truman & Parmenter's store stood a 
little east of the Ross store and was 
saved by holes being chopped through 
the side and water thrown from the 
interior of the building upon the 
flames. At the present day a fire of 
this kind is considered of little ac- 
count, and this one is notable only as 
being the first one that had happened 
in the business portion of the village. 

The old Bates tavern, which stood 
at the northwest corner of Front and 
Church streets, was the first fire of 
any note. It was the first tavern built 
at Owego and was burned in March, 
1829, just before supper time. 

One of the early fires in Owego 
bunied the old wood-colored school- 
house, which stood a little west of 



492 

where the rectory of St. Paul's Epis- 
copal church now stands on the south 
side of Main street. In the early his- 
tory of the village all public meetings 
were held here. The second story was 
occupied by the masonic fraternity as 
a lodge room. The fire broke out at 
noon on Feb. 7, 1835, while school was 
in session, and burned it to the 
ground. Erastus Evans was teacher 
of the school at the time. The east 
end of the M. E. church, which stood 
at the southeast corner of Main and 
Academy streets, was considerably 
scorched and the church would have 
been burned if it had not been for the 
old fire engine, which was manufac- 
tured by Ephraim Leach and was the 
only protection from fire Owego then 
had. This was the first fire at which 
the engine was worked and the water 
was obtained from private cisterns, 
there being at that time not a single 
public cistern. No attempt was made 
to save the school-house. 

The Owego steam furnace and ma- 
chine shop of H. W. Camp & Co. was 
burned May 30, 1836. It stood at the 
southeast corner of the lane known as 
Parker's lane and Main street, 
opposite where St. Paul's church now 
stands. 

A fire, which was followed by the 
sensational suicide of the incendiary, 
burned the store of John Bassett, 
which stood on the south side of Front 
street, a little above the bridge. This 
fire was in the night of February 13. 
1839. Bassett owed $6,000 for his 
goods, which were insured for $5,000. 
tie had sold about $3,000 worth, and. 
in order to defraud an insurance com- 
pany, concealed a quantity of goods in 
his room and set the store on fire. He 



493 

was snsirected of having set the fire 
and a watch was set on his move- 
ments. One evening, not long after- 
ward, a party of citizens went to his 
house, which was on the opposite side 
of the street, to investigate, and as 
they entered Bassett went out into the 
wood house, where he cut his throat 
with a razor, while the house was be- 
ing searched for stolen goods. 

The first really destructive fire at 
Owego broke out early in the morning 
of August 5, 1841, and burned Gen. 
Isaac B. Ogden's cabinet shop, which 
was on the north side of Main street, 
opposite where the new Owego hotel 
now stands. The fire burned all the 
property to the corner of Ithaca street 
(now North avenue). Gen. Ogden's 
dwelling house, James Conklin's wagon 
and carriage shop, and Gad Worthing- 
ton's residence were burned. The Ti- 
oga County house on the east side of 
North avenue and the barn connected 
therewith were on fire, but were saved 
by the exertions of the firemen. The 
cabinet shop was rebuilt and again 
burned in 1854. 

The next large fire broke out at mid- 
night on April 27, 1846, burning the 
Mosher tavern, which stood on the 
corner of Main and Lake streets, 
where the new Owego hotel now 
stands. The tavern barn, Wm. Dun- 
can's house and shop, and a house and 
barn occupied by George Riley were 
also burned. 

On this occasion the fire department 
did excellent service. In acknowledg- 
ment of their appreciation of the vigi- 
lance and exertions of the fire- 
men at this fire, the citizens of 
Owego gave a dinner to Nei)tune, 



494 
Rescue, Croton, and Deluge fire 
companies at the old Owego hotel 
on the 6th of the following May. At 
eleven o'clock in the morning a pro- 
cession of firemen was formed in 
front of the hotel, under the direction 
of Ezra S. Sweet, Esq., marshal of the 
day, and headed by Pease's martial 
band. They marched to the Congre- 
gational (now Presbyterian) church 
in North avenue, where they were ad- 
dressed on the part of the citizens by 
I. N. Jerome, principal of the Owego 
academy. John J. Taylor, chief engi- 
neer of the fire department during 
the two years previous, responded in 
behalf of the firemen. After the ex- 
ercises, the firemen marched back to 
the hotel, where a dinner was served 
by Lewis Manning & Son, the proprie- 
tors, followed by cold water toasts 
without limit. In the evening the 
firemen had a torchlight procession 
through the principal streets. 

The most destructive conflagration 
in the history of Owego, long known 
as "the great fire," broke out at about 
three o'clock in the morning of Sep- 
tember 27, 1849, in the hall of the Sons 
of Temperance, over the store of 
.James & William A. Ely, on the south 
side of Front street, and burned the 
entire business portion of the village. 
Only three stores were left standing, 
and one hundred and four buildings, 
exclusive of barns, were burned, en- 
tailing a loss of about $300,000. All of 
the buildings on both sides of Front 
street, from Church street to the park, 
were burned, and all on Lake street, 
to the Central House on one side and 
Jared Huntington's residence on the 
other. The bridge across the river 
was also partly burned. 



495 
When first discovered the fire might 
have been easily extinguished. One 
of the engines was throwing water 
upon the flames. The chief engineer 
insisted upon changing engines, in 
spite of the remonstrances of others. 
The position of the engines was 
changed and during this operation the 
flames made such progress that they 
could not be checked. 

The next fire worthy of any mention 
was the one that burned the fire en- 
gine house in Main street. This was a 
two-story wooden building, which was 
built in 1844 on the east side of Court 
street on the ground now occupied by 
the county jail, and which was then 
between the old court house and the 
county clerk's office. This building 
was moved In the spring of 1851 to the 
north side of Main street, where the 
brick engine house now stands, and 
was burned in the night of January 6, 
1853, together with Susquehanna en- 
gine and Wave hose carriage. 

Gen. Ogden's cabinet shop, which 
had been rebuilt and which was at the 
time occupied by J. L. Matson, was 
again burned In the night of February 
16, 1854. The fire broke out in John 
Cafferty's livery stable in the rear. 
Everything from the present residence 
of Dr. D. S. Anderson to North avenue 
was burned, including John OafferU's 
dwelling house, H. J. Hodge's oyster 
saloon, and D Corsaw's d\velling 
house, all of which were in Gen. 
Ogden's block, and Parmentns riiat 
market, H. W. Cornell s eating saloon, 
H. W. Billings's dwelling house and 
oyster saloon, and Lincoln & Steb- 
bins's grocery. 

In the night of October 20, 1856, a 
fire burned Clark, Coyle & Perry's 



496 

wagon factory on the west side of 
North avenue, and the residences of 
Chas. T. Bell and Mrs. Wood. 

In the night of the following May, 
the Ahwaga house barn in Church 
street was set on fire, and the black- 
smith shop of George Riley adjoining 
was also burned. The flames ex- 
tended to Lake street, burning the 
livery stable and residence of Charles 
Beers, which stood where the post 
office is now, and Adam C. Gould's 
blacksmith shop north of them. 

Bliss's sash factoiT and steam mill, 
situated in Front street, just east of 
the Erie railway, was burned at about 
noon on October 24, 1857, and J. F. 
Howes's planing mill in Main street, 
above the Erie railway, was also 
burned in the morning of Dec. 30 of 
the following year. The tannery of 
Samuel Ai'chibald, on the south side of 
the river, was burned in the morning 
of January 31, 1860. 

An exciting fire was that of the 
morning of March 21, 1860, which 
burned out the Empire block of Stone 
& Co., Eldridge & Smith's hat and 
boot store, and Link & Michael's cloth- 
ing store on the south side of Front 
street, east of Lake street. 

Simon Springsteen's foundry and 
machine shop, which stood on what is 
now the northwest corner of McMas- 
ter and Delphine streets, was burned 
in the evening of June 13, 1860, and on 
the 16th of the following December 
Arba Campbell's tannery in Canawana 
was burned. 

The next large fire was June 22, 
1866, and burned Crane & Sweet's 
planing mill in Temple street. 



497 

A very destructive fire in the night 
of October 5,1867, burned all the build- 
ings on the south side of Front street 
from Dr. S. W. Thompson's present 
residence up to the brick store of Geo. 
W. Hollenback, the sixth store above 
the bridge, now occupied by Millrea 
Brothers, including Camp's foundry, 
one span of the wooden bridge, and 
several dwelling houses. The fire also 
burned all the buildings from Park 
street to Parker's lane, including Robert 
Cameron's brick block at the north- 
west corner of Front and Park streets, 
t.^e Exchange hotel, and George Sidney 
Camp's house. John J. Taylor's brick 
block at the corner of Front and Court 
streets was also burned. 

Wilson hall on the west side of Lake 
street, with the stores beneath it, and 
L. N. Chamberlain's brick block ad- 
joining at the south, and George W. 
Patrick's wooden block and L. M. 
Wicks's wooden building at the north, 
were burned in the night of April 24, 
1868. 

The old Baptist church, which had 
been moved a few years previous from 
the southeast corner of Main and 
Church streets to the north side of 
Main street, a little east of Lake 
street, was burned in the night of De- 
cember 23, 1868, and the Erie railway 
bridge shop in the night of June o, 
1869. 

A very destructive fire in the night 
of October 16, 1870, burned the solid 
row of wooden stores and shops ex- 
tending from the county jail (now the 
telephone exchange) on the north side 
of Main street to and around the Lake 
street corner south to L. D. Durphy's 



498' 

brick building, now occupied by G. A- 
Durussel as a jewelry store. 

In the evening of Feb. 6, 1872, a 
wooden row of buildings on the east 
side of North avenue, occupying all the 
ground between the building now oc- 
cupied by B. P. Lyke as a laundry and 
i.. W. Smith's grocery store was 
burned. 

In the morning of April 14, 1872, an- 
other wooden row on the west side of 
Lake street, extending from the 
Chamberiain block to Aaron Ogden's 
cigar store, was burned. In the morn- 
ing of October 10 of the same year all 
of the wooden row of stores on the 
east side of the same street between 
the Gazette block and the Central 
house was burned, together with 
Muzzy & Warren's livery stable. 

Wheeler C. Bristol's five-story brick 
flouring mill in Central avenue was 
burned in the night of February 21. 
1873. In the morning of the 17th of 
the following April a fire broke out in 
the Park hotel barn in Central avenue, 
which was burned, together with N. T. 
Burton's bakery and other wooden 
buildings on the west side of North 
avenue. 

The Erie railroad de))ot was burned 
in the night of January 24, 1874, and 
the fire engine house in Main street in 
the afternoon of the 1st of the follow- 
ing February. 

In the night of April 28, 1875, a row 
of wooden buildings on the west side 
of North avenue, extending from N. T. 
Burton's new brick block to and in- 
cluding John Barry's carriage manu- 
factory, was burned, and early in the 
morning of December 29 the Union 



499 

house on the west side of North 
avenue was also burned. 

The Congregational church on the 
west side of Park street was burned in 
t e morning of Pecember 3, 1877, and 
the residences south owned by Miss E. 
H. Bates, M. D., and J. l^. Matson were 
partially burned. 

Samuel Archibald's tannery on the 
south side of the river, just below the 
bridge, was burned in the morning of 
September 1, 1878. 

George Thurston's planing mill on 
the east side of North avenue, opposite 
George street, was burned in the night 
of April 2, 1881. Miles F. Howes's 
planing mill on the south side of Ade- 
line street was burned in the morning 
of January 30, 1884. 

The extensive grain drill and wagon 
works of Gere, Piatt & Johnson at the 
northeast corner of Central avenue 
and Temple street were burned in the 
morning of June 19, 1888. 

The Canawana flouring mill, owned 
by Dorwin, Rich & Stone, which stood 
on the ground where the electric light 
plant is now, was burned in the morn- 
ing of March 19, 1889. 

C. A. Hill's saw mill and planing mill 
on the west side of Central avenue was 
burned in the morning of June 21. 
1890. 

Joel A. Hamilton's novelty works on 
the west side of William street, east of 
Main street, were burned in the night 
of July 13, 1891, together with Alfred 
Hill's house. 

In the night of March 15, 1892. the 
Ahwaga blanket and knitting mill on 
the south side of Adeline street, near 
the Lehigh Valley railroad station, was 
b'lrned. 



500 

The hay press of E. H. House on the 
east side of North avenue, near the 
Erie railway, was burned in the even- 
ing of March 25, 1893. In the morning 
of May 11 in the same year tlie whole 
interior of Storrs, Chatfield & Go's 
hardware store at the northwest cor- 
ner of Front and Lake streets was 
burned out. 

The Pennsylvania house, Joel A. 
Hamilton's novelty works, and other 
buildings on the south side of Front 
street, below Park street, were burned 
in the night of December 4, 1895. 

Dean & Burt's flouring mill on the 
east side of Central avenue, between 
Temple and Fox streets, was burned 
in the evening of February 27, 1896. 

In the afternoon of November 9, 
1899, the interior of Wilson opera 
house on the west side of Lake street 
was burned out. The fire was caused 
by the explosion of some celluloid films 
in a moving picture machine. The 
theatre was entirely burned five years 
later, in the morning of February 28. 
1904. 

Sauerbry & Birdsall's carriage fac- 
tory on the east side of North avenue, 
between South Depot and John R. 
streets, was burned in the morning of 
January 24, 1903. 

This is a record of the principal fires 
in Owego for more than one hundred 
years. The building of a water-works 
system in 1880 has ensured a practi- 
cally inexhaustible supply of water for 
fire purposes and since it was built 
there has been no large fire. It is 
worthy of note that within the last 
sixty- years the entire business portion 
of Owego has been swept over by 
fires — on both sides of Front street 



51)1 

ironi Parker's lane to Church street, 
both sides of Lake street, both sides of 
Main street from Church street to 
Central avenue, and both sides of 
North avenue from Temple street to 
Main street. 

Some Account of "Old Bet," the "Liv- 
ing Elephant," Which Was the First 
"Menagerie" to Visit Owego and 
Was Exhibited in the Bates Tavern 
Carriage Barn, and of the First Cir- 
cus. Which Came in 1826 and Ex- 
hibited in the Tavern Barn Yard, 
and of Other Tent Shows That Came 
Here Later. 

The first "menagerie" that came to 
Owego was an elephant, and it was 
the first elephant ever exhibited in 
the state of New York. It came here 
in the summer of 1813 and was ex- 
hibited in the carriage bam of the old 
Bates tavern. 

This carriage barn was a large red 
building which stood adjoining the lot 
on the north side of Front street 
where Ahwaga hall now stands at the 
east. In the rear was the barn where 
the stage horses were kept. The en- 
trance to this barn yard was between 
the tavern and the red barn. 

The coming of the elephant to Owe- 
go was announced in the newspapers 
mider a big heading as "A Living Ele- 
phant," and was described as follows: 

"The elephant is not only the lar- 
gest and most sagacious animal in the 
world; but, from the peculiar manner 
in which it takes its food and drink of 
every kind, with its trunk, is acknowl- 
edged to be the greatest natural curi- 
osity ever offered to the public. The 
one now offered to the view of the 
curious is a Female. She will lie down 
and get up at the word of command. 



502 

She will draw the cork from a bottle, 
and with her trunk will manage it in 
such a manner as to drink its con- 
tents. She is thirteen years old, and 
measures upwards of twenty feet from 
the end of her trunk to that of her 
tail; twelve feet around her body; up- 
wards of eight feet high, and weighs 
more than five thousand pounds. Per- 
haps the present generation may 
never have an opportunity of seeing 
an Elephant again, as this is the only 
one in America, and this is perhaps 
its last visit to this place. Admit- 
tance 25 cents. — Children half price. 
Hours of exhibition from 8 o'clock in 
the morning until 6 in the evening." 

This elephant was known among 
showmen as "Old Bet." She was ex- 
hibited by a showman named Bailey, 
who travelled at night, and in the day- 
time kept the animal in a barn and 
covered her with hay, so that people 
could not see her by peeping through 
the cracks at the side of the barn. A 
camel and a monkey completed the 
outfit. There was no other wild ani- 
mal show in Owego until 1833. 

The first equestrian performance 
ever given in Owego was that of 
Blanchard & Newell's circus, in 1826. 
The show did not have to exceed ten 
performers and about a dozen horses. 
The company came unannounced, and 
the advertising was done by one of 
the troupe, who went through the 
street and announced the arrival of 
the show in a loud voice, something in 
the manner of the side-show "barker" 
of the present day. The performance 
was given in the barn yard, in the 
rear of the old Bates tavern, which 
was at that time kept by Philip Good- 
man. The show had neither tents nor 
seats, and the spectators had their 
choice of standing or sitting upon 
the ground.The ring was made by 



503 

throwing up a circle of earth in the 
middle of the yard. The performance 
consisted of the feats of a strong man, 
horseback riding without saddle, comic 
singing, etc. The band was composed 
of drums and a fife. While the 
]:)erformance was in progress the up- 
per windows of the hotel were all oc- 
cupied by "dead head" spectators. No 
periormance was given at night, as in 
those days of tallow candles there was 
no known way of lighting the ring. 

The next show to visit Owego was 
the circus of Angevine, Titus & Bur- 
gess. This show started from Putnam 
county. Its tent consisted of a centre 
pole and canvas sides, but no toi). 
The tent was pitched on the lot on 
which the Robert Cameron brick block 
now stands at the northwest corner of 
Front and Park streets in the summer 
of 1827. The circus ring was a solid 
wooden curb, made in curved sections, 
about eighteen inches high and six 
feet long, and painted. The pieces 
were held in place by iron spikes, 
driven into the ground, and the earth 
was heaped up against the curb from 
the interior. The rings constructed 
in this manner were in use about 
twenty-five years, but as so many 
riders were injured by falling or be- 
ing thrown upon them, the curb was 
finally abandoned altogether. In its 
place were substituted red curtains, 
suspended by rings from iron stakes, 
with an earth ring, as now. The tent 
was supplied with seats, similar to 
those in use at the present day. 

The first animal show came in 1833, 
and exhibited on the lot on the east 
side of Court street, south of the pres 
ent county clerk's office. This was the 



504 

first tent show with a canvas top to 
visit Owego. 

The first circuses were advertised 
by a bill poster, who rode horseback 
through the country, carrying his 
handbills in his saddle-bags. These 
bills he fastened on trees and barns 
along the wayside with tacks. Isaac 
J. Greenwood, in one of the Dunlap 
society publications, has thus de- 
scribed the circuses from 1817 to 1820: 

"At first they were but small affairs 
consisting of a couple of wagons, four 
horses, and some half dozen perform- 
ers, mostly tumblers and vaulters.with 
perhaps a trick man and that indis- 
pensable — a clown. There was no 
band save a fiddle or two; no lady in 
gauze and spangles, no ring-master, 
and no tent; but they carried some 
six-foot poles, around which, planted 
in a circle, was stretched at each per- 
forjnance, a canvas to keep them from 
the gaze of outsiders, while a few 
])oards served to build an outside 
platform, raised just above the ground, 
for acrobatic jjcrformances, jig-danc- 
ing, and the like; the rest of their 
loads was baggage, cooking utensils, 
and provisions. The place of exhibi- 
tion was open to the sun and rain, 
though in time a covering suspended 
from a centre pole was introduced. 
There were no seats, except such as 
could be borrowed from the ladies, but 
sometimes the wagons were drawn in, 
so that the back crowd could mount 
upon them, and two hundred and 
fifty spectators, at an entrance price 
of "twenty-five cents was a big house. 
Usually a man went ahead who ])la- 
carded all conspicuous places, pro- 
cured the five-dollar license, and hired 
the ground; then i)resently a bugler 
on horseback announced the approach 
of the show, and on the village green 
the clown would be proclaiming the 
time of performance." 

About the year 1840 circuses began 
to advertise by means of posters, with 
pictures thereon of prancing horses. 



505 
flying acrobats, etc., printed in colors. 
There was a blank space on the bills, 
in which the names of towns and dates 
of performance were filled in with 
crayon. These bills were put up in 
the barrooms of country taverns. 
They were fastened to the wall with 
tacks and when the circus was gone 
one of the showmen carefully took 
down such of the bills as had not been 
mutilated by the jack-knives of bar 
room vandals, and they were used 
again in other villages. 

The visits of the circus in those 
days were "few and far between." 
Among those that exhibited here were 
Buckley, Weeks & Co.'s, Sept. 3, 1835; 
a show known as "The Ampitheatre," 
Aug. 19,1836; Purdy, Welch, Macom- 
ber & Co.'s menagerie, Aug. 19, 1837; 
and Buckley & Go's circus, July, 1838, 
and May, 1839. 

In those days there was a rough 
element among the people not only in 
the village, but in every direction out- 
side of it. When a show came to town 
there was much drunkenness, with 
consequent fighting and disorder. It 
was for this reason that many quiet 
citizens objected to the coming of the 
circus; besides it was complained that 
the circus carried all the loose change 
out of town. Some of the village trus- 
tees, too, objected to circuses, think- 
ing they tended to demoralize the peo- 
ple. So, when the agent of Welch, 
Bartlett & Co.'s Broadway circus ap- 
plied to the Board of Trustees for a 
license in August, 1840, his application 
was refused. The next year, however, 
the "Victoria Arena and Great West- 
ern Circus" had no diL.culty in obtain- 
ing a license and showed on the 3d of 
June. In 1842, when Rockwell, Stone 



506 
& Co."s circus made application for a 
license, there was a tie vote. S. S. 
Tinkham and T. P. Patch voted in 
tavor of license, and Jonathan Piatt 
and Charles R. Coburn against. Judge 
Drake, the president of the village, 
decided the matter by voting in favor 
of license, and the show exhibited on 
tne 3d of June. No circus license was 
granted until 1844. Welch, Delevan & 
Co.'s agent applied to the board, in 
July of that year, when David Wallis 
and Isaac B. Ogden favored granting 
a license and Sylvanus Fox and A. P. 
Storrs opposed it. The matter was 
again decided in favor of the circus 
by the vote of Judge Drake. After 
this licenses were not refused to 
circuses. 

Circuses for many years pitched 
their tents on the lot at the northwest 
corner of North avenue and Main 
streets. This ground was a vacant 
lot owned for many years, by Samuel 
Standish Tinkham and extended from 
the corner to David P. Tinkham's 
house, which stood where the Park 
hotel is now. The wooden fire engine 
house was moved from Court street to 
the west end of the lot in 1851, and 
the block on the corner was built by 
Thomas I. Chatfield in 1853. 

In 1850 circuses were larger and re- 
quired more room. From that time 
and for several years later all the cir- 
cuses exhibited on the east side of 
North avenue between John R. and 
South Depot streets. This was then a 
vacant lot, extending back the entire 
length of John R. street. 

The Yankee Robinson Circus, and 
Theatre. 

In August, 1859, Yankee Robinson's 
combined circus and theatre exhibited 



507 

under a large tent on this lot. After 
the equestrian ijerformance in the 
ring a theatrical performance con- 
cluded the entertainment. This was 
given on a stage about four feet high 
at one end of the tent, with good 
scenery. The characters were for the 
most part sustained by the acrobats 
and gymnasts, and the production was 
a meritorious one. The play was 
called the "Days of 76" and the scene 
was laid in the United States during 
the revolutionary war. R. J. Miller, 
professional known as Yankee Miller 
and an uncommonly good comedian, 
played the leading comedy part, that 
of a Yankee. He died at Fort Wayne, 
Ind., in 1877, while travelling with his 
nephew's theatrical troupe. Yankee 
Robinson's wife, equally good as a 
comic actress, played the character of 
a Yankee girl. In the company was 
also Harry Evarts, a circus rider, who 
was afterward one of the owners and 
tambourinist of Booker & Evarts's 
minstrels. He came to his death in 
May, 1889, while travelling as press 
agent, of Adam Forepaugh's circus, in 
a railroad accident near Hamilton, 
Canada. The cars caught fire and 
Evarts's body was burned in the 
wreckage. Billy Pastor, famed as a 
circus performer, and a brother of 
the well-known Tony Pastor, was also 
a member of the company, and also a 
boy named Gibbons, a most remark- 
able contortionist, who came several 
times afterward to Owego with cir- 
cuses and who was billed as Don San- 
tiago Gibbonaise. 

Robinson owed a printing estab- 
lishment a bill for posters to adver- 
tise his show. While at Owego the 
show was attached by the sheriff of 



508 

Tioga county to satisfy the claim, and 
Robinson was compelled to cancel his 
dates ahead and remain here a week, 
being unable to obtain bondsmen dur- 
ing tnat time. A man named Field.who 
claimed to be the owner of the show, 
came and replevied the property, 
and one fine Sunday morning Robin- 
son folded his tents and went on his 
way rejoicing. The company per- 
formed every evening to large crowds 
during its enforced sojourn here, and 
the manager declared that his week 
here had been more profitable to him 
than it would have been had he gone 
on his advertised route. 

Robinson was a unique character. 
He was a shoemaker, then successive- 
ly a travelling showman, an exhibitor 
of scriptural paintings, a tragedian, a 
Yankee comedian, a dancing master, 
and finally a circusman. 

Washburn's Indian Show. 

Some account may be of interest 
here of a big tent show, which was 
organized in this vicinity. In May, 
1854, E. S. Washburn visited Owego 
with an Indian show arid gave an ex- 
hibition at Patch's hall, in Lake street. 
He afterward, during the winter of 
1854-5, lived at Owego, boarding with 
John Loveland in the second story of 
the old Walter Ogden house, which 
was afterward the "Diamond store," 
and which stood on the west side of 
North avenue on the ground now oc- 
cupied by George Snyder's brick build- 
ing. With him was a full blood Mo- 
hawk Indian, six feet tall, known as 
"Joe Washburn," and his sister, a 
handsome Indian girl, who afterward 
became Washburn's wife. She was 
known as Princess Ne-os-ko-le-ta, and 
later as the Princess Wynima. Both 



509 

names were the same in the Mohawk 
tongue, and the meaning of them is 
"Prairie Flower." 

During his residence here, Wash- 
burn, in company witli Col. Theron 
Seymour, who had been landlord of 
the Ahwaga house, and Frank Phelps, 
of Elmira, who had been travelling 
through the small towns with a hall 
show, organized an Indian tent show 
on a large scale, to travel the next 
season. Loveland, who had been 
travelling the previous season with 
teams, giving a show in country tav- 
erns, was the business manager. They 
secured twelve Onondaga Indians and 
a few gymnasts, and went upon the 
road, in the spring of 1855. 

In addition to the genuine Indians, 
several white men living in Owego and 
vicinity, among whom were Almon W. 
Gould and Joseph D. Hollister, joined 
the show and made themselves up as 
Indians by coloring their faces and 
hands and dying their hair. The show 
had a brass band, the musicians be- 
ing also "fake" Indians. A side show 
was attached to the circus, in which a 
minstrel performance was given, Hol- 
lister playing the bones. Gould, who 
was something of a musician, played 
a guitar with the orchestra during the 
Indian performance. 

The show consisted of a scalping 
scene, rescue from burning at the 
stake, war dances, and the delineation 
of other pleasant little Indian festiv- 
ities and customs. A representation 
of the historical scene of Pocahontas 
saving the life of Capt. John Smith 
was also given, the show closing with 
the cheerful revolutionary tragedy of 
the murder of Miss Jane McCrea. 
"Joe Washburn" was advertised as 



510 

"the celebrated Chief, Red Jacket, 
the most eloquent Indian orator liv- 
ing." 

The show made its first stand at 
Union, Broome county, where the can- 
vas was blown down in a storm and a 
canvasman's arm was broken by a 
falling guy pole. Thence they went to 
Great Bend and Montrose, Pa. When 
they reached Pittston, Washburn was 
informed that in the Wyoming valley 
a bitter feeling still existed against all 
Indians on the part of the descendants 
of those who perished in the massacre, 
and that they had arranged to pick off 
the Indians, one at a time, with rifles, 
knowing that if arrested no jury could 
be found to convict for the murder of 
an Indian, the state of feeling being so 
high. The show exhibited at Pitts- 
ton on a Saturday, and Washburn 
went ahead to Wilkes-Barre, where 
he learned that the report was true. 
He accordingly changed his route, los- 
ing a week's time and the expense of 
billing half a dozen towns. He after- 
ward came to Owego, exhibiting on 
the north end of the park. May 10, 
1855. 

With Washburn's show were Isa- 
dore and Victoria Barnes, singers and 
dancers. They were from Union, 
where their father was a blacksmith. 
At the close of the show season they 
came to Owego and lived about a year 
in Bell street. They first came to 
Owego with Meeker's theatre, danc- 
ing on the stage between the pieces. 
Afterward they travelled with Frank 
Phelps's hall show. 

The Indian show was not a success- 
ful one and soon disappeared from the 
road. E. S. Washburn was afterward 
for several years owner of a travelling 



511 

vaudeville and burlesque shovv' known 
as "Washburn's Last Sensation," in 
which his wife, who had an excellent 
voice, was a singer. He died Nov. lli, 
1SS6, at the Chaffee house at Susque- 
hanna, Pa. 

Washburn's daughter, Lillian Wash- 
burn, became an actress with her 
father's compan.v as soon as she was 
able to talk. She has been continu- 
ously on the stage ever since. Wash- 
burn had two adopted sons, Leon W. 
Washburn and William Washburn. In 
1903 Leon Washburn was proprietor 
of L. W. Washburn's circus and men- 
agerie, the Washburn minstrels, and 
four Uncle Tom's Cabin companies. 
Prank Phelps died at Lincoln, Neb., 
in 1888. 



"The Babes in the Woods," the First 
Travelling Show to Visit Owego, Ex- 
hibits in the Goodman Coffee House 
Dining Room — Theatrical Companies 
Produce Standard Plays under Dis- 
advantageous Conditions — The First 
Theatrical Company Performs at the 
Court House and Later Arrivals Play 
in the Coffee House Dining Room 
and in a Loft over Jonathan Piatt's 
Store. 

rhe first hall show in Owego of 
which any account can be obtained 
was Sickles's "Babes in the Woods." 
It consisted of paintings of battles of 
the revolutionary war and the war of 
1812, and a combination of panorama 
and moving figures, delineating the old 
nursery story of the "Babes in the- 
Woods." It showed the sleeping chil- 
dren and the birds covering them with 
leaves. At the conclusion an angel 
descended and carried away the chil- 



51 i 

dreii, and the wicked uncle was seized 
by a huge snake. 

The performance was given in the 
dining room of the old Goodman coffee 
house (afterward the Franklin house), 
on the northeast corner of Front and 
Court streets, about the year 1826. 
The admission was twelve and a half 
cents. After the show the paintings, 
etc., were removed and a dance was 
given, in which all who chose to pay 
participated. 

Sickles was a violin player and a 
singer of comic songs. His wife ac- 
companied him, and assisted him in 
moving the figures. Among her other 
duties in connection with the show 
was to imitate the ch.rping of birds, 
which she is said to have done to per- 
fection. Simon Springsteen, afterward 
proprietor of the Owego foundry and 
machine shop, which stood on the 
ground now the northeast corner of 
McMaster and Delphine streets, 
travelled with the show as violinist 
three or four years. They went south 
to New Orleans, and visited a large 
portion of the United States. Richard 
Manning, of Owego, who died here in 
1832, also travelled about two years 
as a violinist with Sickles's show. 

Sickles's home was at Sherburne, 
N. Y. He accumulated considerable 
property and retired from the show 
business. After his death his son-in- 
law, George Cox, visited this county 
with the same show, and exhibited at 
Flemingville and Newark Valley. 
Yankee Robinson, the circus proprie- 
tor, began his career as a showman 
with Sickles's "Babes in the Woods." 

The first theatrical exhibition ever 
given in the village of Owego by pro- 
fessionals was in the winter of 1833. 



513 

There was at that time in the minds 
of many people a narrow prejudice 
against actors and theatricals, which 
was common, not only to very small 
villages like Owego of that period, but 
prevailed to some extent also in the 
cities. There were, however, many in 
the community of more liberal ideas, 
but they were in advance of their age. 

In 1826, a debating society existed in 
Owego, known as "The Forum." Its 
discussions were held at the old court 
house and were listened to by such 
ladies and gentlemen of the village as 
chose to be present, the invitation be- 
ing a general one to the public. On 
the 16th of March of that year, as we 
learn from an old copy of the Gazette, 
the subject discussed was, "Are the- 
atrical representations more injurious 
than beneficial to society?" The re- 
sult of the discussion is not known, 
but it is very probable that the de- 
cision was one not at all favorable to 
the advancement of tne drama. 

At a meeting of the village board of 
trustees at the store of Gurdon Hewitt 
on August 1, 1831, the following reso- 
lution was adopted: 

Resolved by the Trustees of said vil- 
lage that no circus or other public 
show or exhibition shall be permitted 
within the bounds of said village un- 
der the penalty of ten dollars for each 
and every offence, and that each and 
every person acting or assisting in any 
such show or exhibition shall be 
deemed an offender within the mean- 
ing of this ordinance. 

James Pumpelly was president and 
trustee of the village, and the other 
trustees present at the time of adopt- 
ing the resolution were judge Latham 
A. Burrows, Gurdon Hewitt and Ezra 
S. Sweet. 



514 

As has been already mentioned, the 
first performance here by a company 
of professional actors was in 1833. 
The performance was given at the old 
court house at the southeast corner of 
Main and Court streets. 

On this occasion Lyman Covell, of 
Elmira, then sheriff, of Tioga county 
as it was previous to its division into 
the present counties of Chemung and 
Tioga, granted the use of the court 
room to a theatrical company under 
the management of Gilbert & Trow- 
bridge, which was well and favorably 
known in the lai'ge towns in various 
parts of the state. Their perform- 
ances, which occupied a week, were 
artistically and pecuniarily a success. 
The company was composed of Gil- 
bert, Trowbridge, Powell, and Archi- 
bald and their wives, with one or two 
others. They played ' Pizarro," "Lady 
of the Lake," "School for Scandal," 
"Lock and Key," Othello" and 
"George Barnwell." The performance 
each evening concluded with a farce, a 
great favorite in those days being Mon- 
crieff's "Spectre Bridegroom," which 
was anounced on the bills as "The 
Ghost in Spite of Himself." The or- 
chestra consisted of one violin. 

At this period there were no rail- 
roads in this ])art of the state. The 
scenery and baggage were transported 
by teams, which were hired at a town 
where the company had been playing 
to transport it to the ne.xt village. 

The stage was built of rough boards 
laid on saw-horses over the bar of the 
court room. The footlights were tallow 
candles in tin holders. A strip of 
board about a foot wide extended the 
length of the stage between the foot- 
lights and the actors. It was fastened 



515 

by hmges to the stage and worked 
with cords. It lay flat on the stage 
until it became necessary to darken 
the stage for night and storm effects, 
when it was raised by means of the 
cords to hide the light of the candles. 

The scenery was hung on long 
stri])s of wood and rolled up from the 
bottom on rollers by means of heavy 
cords. The entrances to the stage at 
the side were between the "wings," 
which were painted on canvas and 
stretched on frames made of strips of 
wood. Dressing rooms were made by 
hanging up a few calico curtains. 
There were no reserved seats and the 
admission fee was a shilling — twelve 
and one-half cents— children half 
price. 

Those of the villagers who were op- 
posed to the visits of theatrical com- 
panies to Owego made a vigorous pro- 
test to the board of supervisors 
against the court house being used for 
show purposes, which had the desired 
effect. The board, at its annual ses- 
sion in the fall of 1833, adopted a reso- 
lution prohibiting the use of the court 
house for theatrical exhibitions. 

The next year, however, Gilbert 
& Trowbridge's theatrical company 
again visited Owego, and performed 
two weeks in a loft in the second story 
of Jonathan Piatt's store on the south 
side of Front street. The company 
consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Trowbridge, 
Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, Mr. and Mrs. 
Powell, Henry Vaughn, Sam. Lathrop, 
Charles Benson, Kore and, perhaps, 
one or two others. 

.Joseph S. DeWitt, popularly known 
as "Old Joe" DeWitt, who was for 
many years projirietor of a restaurant 
here, travelled with the company 



516 
about a year as business manager. He 
attended to hiring halls and getting 
bills printed, and played occasionally 
in minor parts. Mr. Piatt's hall was 
about fifty feet deep and twenty feet 
wide. 

Showmen in the early days of Owe- 
go encountered some rough audiences. 
One evening during the performance 
of a travelling show, some young fel- 
lows provided themselves with small 
paper bags of flour, and amused them- 
selves by throwing them on the stage 
during the performance to see them 
break. Occasionally an actor was hit 
and powdered from head to foot. This 
kind of humor prevailed in Owego for 
several years. 

At one time, several years later than 
this, a gentleman delivered a public 
lecture in the court house. After the 
lecture he was met by a party of men 
at the door, one of whom threw a bot- 
tle of ink upon him, destroying his 
clothing. The perpetrator of this act 
was one of Owego's most prominent 
citizens and business men, and it was 
looked upon at that time as rare fun. 

Garry A. Hough, an early theatrical 
manager, who visited Owego several 
times previous to 1854, in a letter to 
the writer of these papers in January, 
1879, wrote: 

"Thirty years ago Owego was not 
considered a first-class theatrical 
town; it was not even first- class in 
morals, and that was the cause of end- 
less difficulties when amusements 
were offered. The rough and tough 
element which had their headquarters 
in your village, were men who for a 
portion of the year found emi)loyment 
as river men on the Susquehanna. 
When not employed they were trouble- 
some, at times uncontrollable. This, I 
distinctly recollect, was an alleged 



517 

cause for shutting out all kinds of 
HUiusenients, the morality of the town 
endorsing the proposition that ignor- 
ance and rowdyism were the legiti- 
mate allies of dramatic art. But these 
were comparatively, primitive days. 
I hope time has liberalized the ideas 
and notions which then prevailed." 

Archibald, who was with the Trow- 
bridge & Gilbert troupe on its first 
visit to Owego, was an Englishman. It 
was his boast that he had won renown 
in the •■legitimate drama of old Eng- 
land." 

Trowbridge was the leading actor. 
He was a tall, bravray man, and was 
born in New Haven, Conn.. He was 
not only a good tragedian, but an ex- 
cellent personator of comic old men. 
He died in Cincinnati in 183S. His 
wife was an excellent actress, and a 
great favorite later in Buffalo. After , 
the death of her husband, she became 
the wife of Josh. Silsbee, the cele- 
brated Yankee comedian. Upon his 
death, in 1858, she married Wm. A. 
Chapman, the equally celebrated low 
comedian. She died in San Francisco, 
Cal., in 1880. 

R. T. Gilbert was equally good as 
a tragic actor and as a low comedian. 
He was the pioneer manager of west- 
ern New York. He died about the 
year 1849 in one of the eastern states. 

Kore was a large, fleshy man, and 
played third parts, such as Alonzo in 
"Pizarro." Later he lived on a farm 
at Hadley, Mich., where he became 
prominent in public life, serving six- 
teen years as supervisor of his town 
and representing Lapeer county in tne 
state legislature. 

Old Sam Lathrop, the celebrated 
circus clown, acted in some of the 
pieces, but his specialty was singing 



518 

comic songs, in which he was inimi- 
table. One winter, at the Chatham the- 
atre, in New Yorlc, he did nothing but 
sing "The Teetotal Society," in which 
he was immensely popular, between 
the farces. He died in a hospital in 
New York several years ago, consider- 
ably advanced in years. 

Henry Vaughn played old men. He 
died in the south of cholera. 

John H. Powell was a light come- 
dian. His wife, who was a daughter of 
Vaughn, played soubrettes. Powell 
died in Erie, Pa., and his wife subse- 
quently re-married. 

Charles Benson was not an actor. 
He played the violin, and was the 
"orchestra." 

One reason for the prejudice against 
strolling actors at this period may 
have been that they were as a rule 
dissipated. Trowbridge was no excep- 
tion to the rule. He was never so in- 
toxicated on the stage that his condi- 
tion could be noticed, but after the 
performance he was in the habit of 
drinking hard. He was what is com- 
monly known as a "night owl" — pass- 
ing the evening after the performance 
in convivality, and sleeping during the 
day. Sam Lathrop, Vaughn, and all of 
the company, except Gilbert, were said 
to be hard drinkers. 

Trowbridge & Gilbert were the first 
managers to take a dramatic company 
through the New England states. 
Trowbridge was at one time associated 
in management with the celebrated 
comedian, Sol. Smith. 

March 16th, 1840, Powell & Hoff- 
man's theatre made application to the 
board of trustees for a license to play 
five nights in Owego. To consider 



519 
this matter a special meeting of the 
board was held. 

It had been rumored about the vil- 
lage that a theatrical company pro- 
posed to come to the village and give 
a series of performances. Prompt 
upon learning the intention of the 
mountebanks, as they were charac- 
terized, measures were instituted by 
those opposed to theatrical exhibitions 
to prevent the proposed performance. 
The following petition was accordingly 
submitted to the board of trustees: 

To the Truslies of the Corporation of the Vil- 
laije of (Iweyo: — The iin(k'rsi.?ned learn with re- 
.■■i-'et that a strullins theatrical company purpose 
t(i open a theatre in this villajje the present 
week. Believing that such exhibitions are de- 
moralizing in their tendency and pernicious to 

^ I order in any community, and also that it 

will teml to increase the scarcity of money, 
which now weighs so heavily upon the indus- 
trious labourer and honest poor, do re<:iuest that 
you will not grant the necessary permit. 

J. Piatt, W. A. Ely, 

O. Oregorv, ('has. F. .Johnson, 

James Wright, A. P. Storrs, 

Francis Truman. Klihu Pannentor, 

David Goodrich, A. C. Greenloaf, 

L. H. Allen, -Jas. Ely. 

.John C. Laning, P. Ransom, 

OfHsrge Truman, Chas. Ranson, 

.John B. Wood, -J. L. Pinney, 

W. P. Stone, H. 1). Pinney, 

Asa H. Truman, B. B. Curry, 

Silas Totten, C Talcott, 

E. Ravnsford, W. Pumpelly, 

D. G.'Tavlor. Wm. JI. Piatt, 

W. C. Taylor, D. ". Macoml.er. 

The trustees present were John J. 
Taylor, Isaac B. Ogden, Col. N. W. 
Davis, and Jared Huntington, the lat- 
ter being president of the village. Mr. 
Taylor and Mr. Ogden voted in favor 
of granting the license, and the others 
voted against it. This action, how- 
ever, was not final. Another meeting 
was held in the evening, when the 
same trustees were present. The mat- 
ter was reconsidered, and a license 
to exhibit five evenings was granted 
to Powell & Hoffman upon payment of 
$12. 



520 

The theatre was managed by J. hL 
Powell, who had been here with the 
Trowbridge & Gilbert company, and. 
Garry A. Hough, an excellent come- 
dian, whose stage name then was Hoff- 
man. The performances were given 
in the dining room of the Oi^ Goodman 
coffee house in Front street. As a 
curiosity a copy of one of the adver- 
tisements is here given: 

THEATRE 

AT MRS. GOODMAN'S IIOTKL 

Murch 20. 1840. 

T.niS EVEXIXG will be prewiited the 
splendid Melo-Drania, entitle*! 

HUNTER OF THE ALPS; 

or, the 

Forest of Savoy. 

K.lix Mr. PoweU 

F( nlinand Mr. (.'liffurd 

Marco Mr. Frceland 

Jeronvmo Mr. lla.stiiifrs 

Helena Mrs. Powell 

Genevieve Mrs. Ilastii^s 

To conclude with 
MY AUNT 

Fred Vincent Mr. Clifford 

Rattle Mr. Hoffniai. 

Dick Dashall Mr. I'nwc II 

Soherlove Mr. H;i^tiii^-i 

Mrs. {^orbetts Mr.s. Pnwcll 

Emilia Mrs. HofTinan 

*E«=- Tickets to be had at the Bar — at L. Man- 
ning & Son, and at the Tioga County House, 
Curtain will rise at 7 o'clock P. M. 

The next theatrical company to visit 
Owego was one under the manage- 
ment of W. P. Hastings. It was 
known as the New York Vaudeville 
company, and the performances were 
given at the Goodman coffee house. 
Mr. Hastings paid a village license of 
$2 a night, and commenced his per- 
formances on the 14th of June, 1S41. 
The following is a copy of one of the 
company's advertisements : 

THEATRE. 
This evening (Friday, June 18th) will be pre- 
sented for the first time in this place, the ccle- 
l)rated Drama in 3 acts, entitled the 

LADY OF THE LAKE. 

Roderick Dhu Mr. Hastings 

Lord Douglas Mr. Reyn..l,l8 

Malcolm Mr. Arthur 

Fitz James Mr. Howmaii 

Red Murdoch Mr. Hcydon 



521 

Malise Mr. Ma,Mis„„ 

Blanche of IVv.m Mrs. llastin-s 

Kllen Doutjlas Mrs, lloydnii 

Comic Song Hastings 

Xrni'o Kxtravauanza l>y .Masti-r I'irrce 

llidilan.l Flin- l.. v Mr. .Vrthiir 

The evening's entertainment to i.inehi.le with 
tlie last aet nf 

W KXLOCK OF WEN LOCK. 

Wenloi'k Bowman 

Wolf Hastings 

,)j.|.j,. Heydon 

llerhert ' T.vie ".'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. Arthur 

Nicholas Pi"-'*- 

Wittol Wattol Master Pierce 

Hugh Reynolds 

f)gg., Hathaway 

l-y-l Mrs. Hastings 

]l ,„. ■.".■.■.'.'.'.' Mrs. Hey.1. m 



fhiek- 



Tickets, 2.-) cents. 



Bar. 



The versatility of the manager, who 
played the leading characters, was 
somewhat remarkable. It is not 
every one who can successfully sus- 
tain the leading character in a roman- 
tic drama and five minutes afterward 
appear and sing a comic song with any. 
marked degree of success. 

Tickets, it may be noticed were "to 
be had at the bar"— a convenient re- 
sort, doubtless, between the acts for 
the thirsty ones of the audience— and 
it should be remembered that the 
average theatre-goer at this period 
was not accustomed to refuse any in- 
vitation to drink. 

An application was next made for a 
theatrical license by J. H. Powell, on 
the 31st day of December of the same 
year, which was refused by the trus- 
tees. In May, 1842, however, he suc- 
ceeded in obtaining the necessary li- 
cense, and showed in the Franklin 
house dining room four nights. Mr. 
Muzzy, the landlord, became security 
for the village license of $8. The 
party had bad houses and could not 
pay the license. The trustees subse- 



52Z 
quently released Mr. Muzzzy from all 
responsibility in the matter. 

This ended theatrical performances 
in Owego until October, 1845, when 
the Washington ian temperance excite- 
ment was at its height. On the 17th 
of that month Garry A. Hough, with a 
party known as the Western Temper- 
ance company, played in Washington 
hall, a building owned by Jehiel Og- 
den, and situated at the northwest cor- 
ner of Main and Liberty streets, where 
St. Paul's Episcopal church now 
stands. 

This was a long building, one story 
and a half high at the front, with an 
extension back one story high. The 
highest part had originally been a 
gunshop, to which the extension was 
added and the whole converted into 
a hall. The "Washingtonian Total Ab- 
stinence Association, which was or- 
ganized in Owego in 1844 and of which 
David C. Burdick was president, held 
its meetings in this hall, and political 
meetings were also held there. A 
large portion of the building was torn 
down three or four years afterward 
and the remainder converted into a 
dwelling house, which stood there un- 
til St. Paul's church was built in 1894. 

Although Mr. Hough came to Owego 
during a hot political campaign his 
company drew good houses. At Wash- 
ington hall tickets could not "be pur- 
chased at the bar." 

The next company to visit Owego 
was the Western Temperance com- 
pany, under the management of Allen 
& Bridges. They played one week in 
Concert hall, commencing January 10, 
1847. 

It is not known who the members of 
the Western Temperance company 



523 

■were. They played, among other 
pieces, "The Drunkard's Warning" and 
a piece with the cheering melo-dra- 
matic title of "The Goblet of Death: 
or, the Road to Ruin." 

Concert hall was in the second story 
of Rollin block, which stood at the 
northwest comer of Front and Lake 
streets and was owned by judge 
Drake. North of and adjoining this 
block Joseph S. DeWitt kept "The 
Shades" restaurant in a building 
which occupied the ground on which 
the stores of J. C. Kenyon and the 
Misses Rowe now stand. About the 
year 1846 Mr. DeWitt removed tlie 
partitions between Rollin block and 
his restaurant and converted the 
whole into a public hall, which he 
called Concert hall. The main en- 
trance was a stairway on the Front 
street side, and there was a private 
entrance from Lake street through 
the "Shades" building. This hall was 
burned in the great fire of 1849. 

P. T. Barnum's first exhibition in 
Owego was in Concert hall. He came 
with Tom Thumb, the dwarf, in the 
summer of 1849, and stayed several 
days. The show was poorly patron- 
ized, and Barnum swore roundly that 
he would never visit Owego again — 
but he did. 

Potter & Co's theatre was the next 
dramatic company to come to Owego. 
It played three nights at Concert hall, 
beginning Aug. 26, 1847. Potter's 
partner was Gilbert, of the old firm of 
Gilbert & Trowbridge. The leading 
man was William M. Fleming, an ex- 
cellent tragedian, who was then thirty 
years of age and in the prime of his 
reputation. In 1860 he entered the 



524 
army as paymaster and was with 
Sherman in the march to the sea, and 
was brevetted a colonel in the regu- 
lar army. He died of heart disease 
in New York city May 6, 1866. The 
company was composed of Mr. and 
Mrs. Potter, Mr. and Mrs. Mehan, Mr. 
and Mrs. Donovan, Fleming, Gilbert, 
and Pemberton. Between the pieces 
Potter and Mrs. Donovan danced the 
polka. 

Potter was a somewhat remarkable 
character. Between 1850 and 1860 he 
was one of the pioneers to establish 
theatres throughout California, Ore- 
gon, Nevada, Utah, and in the Chero- 
kee nation. He built and fitted up 
more theatres and tcavelled a greater 
number of miles with large companies 
than any other manager of those days 
ever thought of travelling. He built 
the first theatre in Chicago about 
the year 1841. At one time 
he took a company of twenty-two 
actors from Cleveland, Ohio, to Rich- 
mond, Va., with but seventy-five cents 
in his pocket to start with. His per- 
suasive powers and his ability to weep 
on the slightest provocation were such 
that could always borrow money, for 
which he gave his notes, such notes 
never being paid. He died at Morris, 
111., in 1869, while playing there with 
a theatrical company. 

During the company's sojourn here 
the play one evening was Shakes- 
peare's "King Richard III." At this 
time Junius Brutus Booth was at the 
height of his reputation as one of the 
great tragic actors of the world. Rob- 
ert Chambers, a carpenter, who lived 
on the west side of what is now Cen- 
tral avenue, a little south of Fox 
street, was one of the audience. Flem- 



525 

Ing was i)laymg the character of "the 
crook-backed tyrant" and his actmg so 
impressed and delighted Chambers 
that in his enthusiasm he yelled, "Go 
in Booth." 

At that time a slang phrase, ^'Go in 
boots," was in vogue,and the tragedian 
misunderstanding the significance of 
the words of Chambers, was highly in- 
dignant. To be addressed as "boots" 
was just a trifle too much, and Flem- 
ing angrily retorted "Shut up yourd — d 
noise." He refused to proceed further. 
Col. N. W. Davis arose and explained 
the matter, saying that what Fleming 
had considered an insult was in fact a 
high compliment to his power as an 
actor. The tragedian was mollified by 
Col. Davis's words, and the play went 
on. 

Powell's next visit to Owego was in 
November, 1847. His last visit was in 
1848, when he opened in Concert hall 
on the 17th of .January, ana remained 
one week. 

At about this time the opposition to 
theatrical exhibitions again began to 
be manifested. In January, 1851, 
Garry A. Hough made application to 
the trustees for a license to give a 
series of theatrical performances. A 
special meeting of the trustees was 
held on the 28th of that month, to 
consider the matter, when license was 
refused. A paper, signed by forty-seven 
of the prominent business men of the 
village, was handed to the trustees at 
their next meeting, approving of their 
course, and promising their influence 
in sustaining them in the same. 

On the 13th of the following May, 
George Western, then celebrated as a 
low comedian, known as "The Great 
Western, "came to Owego as agent of 



526 

Mr. Hough, and applied for license, 
which was refused. He was fortified 
with letters from L. M. Rexford, Judge 
E. C. Kattel, and other prominent citi- 
zens of Binghamton, commending the 
company in point of respectability and 
talent. Judge Avery interested him- 
self in the matter, and through his in- 
fluence Hough was granted a license, 
but at the exorbitant rate of $5 a 
night. 

Timothy P. Patch had the year pre- 
vious (1850) built a brick block on the 
ground now occupied by the L. N. 
Chamberlain brick block on the west 
side of Lake street. The third story 
was used as a hall and was known as 
Patch's hall. 

Mr. Patch was for many years one 
of the most prominent merchants at 
Owego. He was born at Ashburnham, 
Mass., Dec. 3, 1809. He came to Owego 
in February, 1834, and opened a meat 
market in a wooden building in Lake 
street where the Chambelain block now 
stands. There he conducted the meat 
business and subsequently the grocery 
business twenty-one years. His store 
was burned in the fire of 1849 and he 
erected a brick block on its site. 

When Ahwaga hall was built in 1852 
Patch's hall ceased to be in demand 
for public purposes. It was accessible 
only by a long flight of stairs up 
narrow staircases, and was a veritable 
death trap in case of panic or fire. 
From May, 1853, to September, 1855, 
the hall was occupied by the Gazette 
|)rinting office. The block was after- 
ward purchased by L. N. Chamberlain 
and the second and third floors occu- 
pied by him as a boot and shoe manu- 
factory until it was burned, together 



with Wilson hall, adjoining it on the 
north, in the night of April 24, 186S. 

Mr. Patch removed in 1860 to To- 
wanda. Pa., where he died June 30, 
1882. He had three sons, Calvin B., 
Robert Harlin, and Charles Patch, and 
one daughter, Albertine Patch, who 
was married to Oscar F. Saunders, 
and removed to Corning, N. Y. 

The ceiling of Patch's hall was so 
low that a panorama was prevented 
from visiting Owego at the time the 
hall was opened, there not being room 
to erect it. Other panoramas were af- 
terward exhibited there. These pano- 
ramas were common in those 
days. They were painted on long 
strips of canvas ten or twelve 
feet high and suspended by up- 
right rollers at each end. As the 
panorama was shown it was moved by 
unrolling it from one roller at one side 
of the stage and rolling it on the other 
roller at the other side of the stage, 
the continuous picture being exhibited 
in a framework extending across the 
stage. A lecturer, with a long stick, 
pointed out the prominent features 
and described them as the panorama 
was moved. These panoramas were 
so heavy that they were carried in 
sections. As fast as one had been ex- 
hibited another was shown. The most 
prominent of these panoramas was a 
panorama of New York, showing all 
the buildings in the principal streets 
of that city at that time and which 
was twice shown here, and Banvard's 
panorama of the Mississippi river, 
painted by John Banvard, an artist, 
traveller poet, and author. This pano- 
rama was the largest ever made and 
covered three miles of canvas. It was 



52S- 
one of the wonders of the day and was: 
exhibited in this country and in 
Europe. Another panorama that drew 
large houses was known as "The 
Burning of Moscow," in which moving 
figures and battle effects were added 
to carry out the illusion. 

Patch's hall was fifty-three feet long 
and forty-four feet wide. In this hall 
Mr. Hough opened his theatrical per- 
formances May 19, 1851, and played 
one week to fair houses.. But this 
visit of Mr. Hough to Owego was so 
unsuccessful from a pecuniary point 
of view that a compromise was made 
on the license by the trustees. 

The company was a small one, and 
played only light comedies and farces. 
The leading man was Alonzo R. 
Phelps, a tragic actor, who had made 
his first appearance in New York six 
years previous to this time as Othello 
at the Greenwich street theatre and 
who in 1854 sailed with Kate and 
Susan Benin for California. He died 
in Philadelphia in 1888. 

The low comedian was George 
Western, one of the famous comic 
actors of his time. For a long time he 
drew crowded houses to Barnum's mu- 
seum in New York and was immensely 
])opular. He excelled in Yankee char- 
acters, and was particularly famous 
for his personation of Diggory in the 
old farce of "The Spectre Bride- 
grom." He was the father of Lucille 
and Helen Western, both famous ac- 
tresses, but in an entirely' different 
line of characters. When in Owego 
Western was in bad health. He w^as 
afllicted with consumption and was 
compelled to withdraw from the stage. 
He lived at Binghamton and became 
travelling agent for a cigar and to- 



529 

bacco house, spending the winter in 
the south and the summer at Bing- 
hamton. He died at Bodle's Exchange 
hotel in that city in July, 1857. 

Garry A. Hough was an excellent 
comedian. He was particularly 

good in the parts made famous by 
William E. Burton, the celebrated 
comedian of that time, whom he in 
some respects resembled. In March, 
1853, he brought to Owego the largest 
and best theatrical company that had 
ever been seen here and one which 
has never been surpassed even to this 
day. It was composed of ten men and 
five women. Mr. Hough carried his 
own scenery. There was no stage in 
Ahwaga hall at that time. He built a 
stage at the south end of the hall, 
about four feet above the floor. At 
the north end he caused to be con- 
structed of rough boards some seats 
similar to those in the modern circus. 
For these spectators were charged 25 
cents each. On the rest of the floor 
between these seats and the stage, 
were long wooden settees, seats on 
which were charged 50 cents each. 
The men's dressing room was at one 
side of the stage and the women's at 
the other. The company produced "Ingo- 
mar," "The Wife," "Pizarro," "Rich- 
ard III," "The Stranger," "The Serious 
Family," and other standard plays, 
the piece being followed each evening 
by a dance by Mile. Eveline and a 
farce. The company played here two 
weeks to good houses. 

The leading actor was T. B. Mul- 
holland, a tragedian of great power, 
whose equal has never since been 
seen in* Owego. He is said to have 
been a native of Tompkins county. 



.NTothmg is knowu of his origin nor of 
his end. In 1854, the year after his 
aijpearance here, he appeared at the- 
old Broadway theatre in New York 
city, then managed by E. A. Marshall. 
From the moment of his appearance 
there he became a great favorite with 
both the management and the public, 
but in one of his eccentric periods he 
was obliged to leave. Later he was 
taken ill and died, but when and 
where no one who was associated 
with him was ever able to ascertain. 

Mulholland was a refined and in- 
telligent actor, and quick at repartee. 
While playing in Rochester, N. Y., 
some one in the gallery threw a piece 
of stove pipe at him on the stage. In- 
stead of resenting if he looked up 
quickly and asked why the stove had 
not been sent along with the pipe. 
This reply to what was intended as an 
insult put the entire audience in jov- 
ial accord with him at once and cap- 
tured it for the rest of the perform- 
ance. 

The cast of Kotzebue's play of "The 
Stranger," one of the plays produced 
at Owego by Hough's com])any was as 
follows: 

The Stranger T. B. Mulholland 

Count Wintersen Mr. Morris 

Baron Steinfort Mr. Goodenow 

Solomon ' Mr. Hough 

Peter Mr. Tozer 

Tobias Mr. Ross 

Francis Mr. Collins 

Mrs. Haller Miss Kate Ludlow 

Countess Wintersen Mrs. Wray 

Charlotte Mrs. Hough 

Annette Mile Eveline 

Kate Ludlow, the leading lady of 
the company, was a fine actress. Her 
husband, Joseph Littell, was a popular 
actor but was not with Hough's com- 



531 

.pany. His first wife was Malvina 
Pray, from whom he was divorced 
and who was afterward married to 
Wm. J. Florence, the celebrated come- 
dian. He died m 1856. 

Kate Ludlow was in her day one of 
the most prominent actresses in 
America. She was bom in 1820 on the 
coast of Maine, and at an early age 
■was adopted by tlie officers attached 
to the first United States artillery, 
then stationed at Fulton, Me. She 
was educated at Gorham semi- 
nary at Gorham, Mass. She 
made her first appearance on the 
stage in 1843 at the museum in Balti- 
more, Md. After her appearance with 
Hough's company at Owego she went 
to New York, where she was leading 
woman at the old Broadway theatre 
several seasons. Thence she went to 
Boston, where she supported Junius 
Brutus Booth at the Hollis street the- 
atre, afterward travelling with Booth 
through the country. After Booth's 
death she supported James E. Mur- 
dock, George Vandenhoff, and other 
stars. In June, 1899, she was ad- 
mitted to the Edwin Forrest home at 
Holmesburg, Pa., near Philadelphia, 
where she is now living at the ad- 
vanced age of 89 years. She is, prob- 
ably, the oldest living actress in 
America. 

Mr. Morris was Thomas E. Morris, 
who was born at Troy, N. Y., and who 
was 24 years old when he appeared at 
Owego. He was afterward manager 
for John Brougham, the celebrated 
Irish actor and author and married 
Brougham's step-daughter. He was 
manager of the Waverley theatre in 
New York, of the Park theatre in 



532 

Brooklyn, and of the Grand opera 
house in New York when James Fiske 
owned it, and was later a member of 
the famous Union Square theatre com- 
pany. He died in New York in Octo- 
ber, 1885. 

Mr. Collins was Oliver B. Collins, 
who began his long career on the 
stage at Bamum's museum in New 
York in 1852, the year previous to his 
appearance at Owego. He spent most 
of his life on the stage, playing in the 
companies of Booth, Barrett, Forrest, 
and other eminent actors. He died in 
January, 1907, at the Victoria hotel at 
the Highlands of Neversink, N. J., of 
which hotel he was the owner, aged 
78 years. 

Mrs. Mary A. Wray, born at Ridge- 
field, Conn., in 1804, went on the stage 
at the old Chatham theatre in New 
York city in 1820 as a dancer. She 
supported the great actors of the time, 
Forrest, Junius Brutus Booth, and 
others. In 1848 she was with the 
Seguin opera company. In 1864, when 
she was sixty years of age, she retired 
from the stage. She died in October, 
1892, at Newton, L. I., in the home 
that had been purchased for her by 
her son, Billy Wray, the negro min- 
strel, who was lost in the burning of 
the steamer "Evening Star," while on 
the way from New York to New Or- 
leans in 1866. The Mile Eveline of 
Hough's company was Mrs. Wray's 
daughter, Eveline Wray. Another son 
of Mrs. Wray, Edward A. Wray, was 
with her when she was in Owego. He 
was only 14 years old. He also be- 
came a negro minstrel and died at 
Edwardsville, 111., in 1866, the same 
year of his brother's death. 



Mr. Goodenow was John Goodenow, 
popularly known as Jack Goodenow, 
a handsome man and good actor, of 
whom little is now known. J. B. 
Tozer, the low comedian of the com- 
pany, was a very popular actor and 
was with Hough when he played in 
Patch's hall in 1S51. In 1854 he was 
the low comedian at Barnum's mu- 
seum in New York. He retired from 
the stage in 1859. Mr. Ross, who was 
known as Tony Ross, played old men. 
He was an excellent actor. 

Garry A. Hough had an eventful 
career. He was born at Potsdam, N. 
Y., in 1814 and at 14 years old be- 
came a printer's apprentice. He 
worked at one time as a printer for 
A. H. Calhoun in the old Owego Ad- 
vertiser office in this village. H^- 
bought the Honeyoye Falls Standard, 
which he published until 1836, when 
he quit the printing business on ac 
count of ill health and became an ac 
tor. In 1845 he played in the company 
of Isaac Singer Merritt, who invented 
the sewing machine and died a mil- 
lionaire. In 1865 and 1866 he played 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" and other plays 
through the state under canvas. He 
afterward became manager succes- 
sively of the Atheneum theatre and 
the opera house at Detroit, Mich. He 
died in that city in January, 1896. 

After the great fire of September, 
1849, George W. Fay built the three- 
story brick building which stands on 
the north side of Front street, the sec- 
ond store east of Lake street. It was 
the first brick building erected after 
the fire, and was completed and occu- 
pied in May, 1850. The lower floor 
was occupied by Mr. Fay as a drug 
store and the third floor was used as 



534 

a public hall and known as Fay's hall. 
Here all shows and public entertain- 
ments were given until Patch's hall 
was built in Lake street. No theat- 
rical company came to Owego during 
the short time this hall was in exist- 
ence. It was a small one and only an- 
swered a temporary purpose. 

As the business portion of the vil- 
lage was gradually rebuilt it was 
found that Patch's hall was too small 
to hold the average Owego audience. 
When Patch's hall was built there 
was no further need of the smaller 
hall, and Fay's hall was closed. Mr. 
Fay, however, in turn thought that a 
larger hall than Patch's hall was 
needed. So he built the present block 
of two stores, over which is Ahwaga 
hall, on the site of the old Fay drug 
store on the north side of Front 
street, and completed it in May, 1853. 
Ahwaga hall had no stage, and when- 
ever one was needed a temporary one 
was built of rough boards. A few 
years later a stage was built with 
steps at each side, which stage could 
be moved from one part of the hall 
to another when desirable. There 
was a wide doorway on the east side 
opening into the Ahwaga house, which 
was used for the convenience of 
dancers when balls were given in the 
hall and suppers served to the 
dancers in the dining room of the 
hotel. The western part of the Ah- 
waga house block was subsequently 
sold to George S. T^eonard and several 
years afterward the doorway was 
closed with a brick wall. 

Ahwaga hall was for many years 
owned by Mr. Fay and Lyman Tru- 
man. In the summer of 1899, eigh- 



535 

teen years after Mr. Truman's death, 
Lyman T. Stanbrough, executor of 
the Lyman Truman estate, entirely re- 
constructed the hall. A new floor of 
Georgia pine was laid and the walls 
were wainscoated to the height of five 
feet. The ceiling and walls were cov- 
ered with steel and artistically 
painted. Other improvements were 
made, making it the handsomest pub- 
lic hall anywhere in this part of the 
state. The block was sold to Joel C. 
Kenyon in December, 1899. 

The building of Ahwaga hall caused 
a renewed interest in theatricals, and 
the coming of dramatic companies be- 
came more frequent. In June, 1853, a 
company under the management of 
William H. Meeker played there. The 
opening piece was Coleman's "Iron 
Chest," in which Meeker, who was an 
excellent tragedian, played Sir Ed- 
ward Mortimer. The company re- 
mained here a week and drew fair 
houses. Meeker afterward played in 
the New York theatres, supporting 
Edwin and John Wilkes Booth, Edwin 
Forrest, E. L. Davenport, and other 
noted actors. He was on the stage 
45 years from 1843 to 1888, and died 
at New Rochelle, N. Y., March 31, 
19n5, aged 83 years. 

In the following October Tozer & 
Germon's theatre played a week at 
the hall. The managers were J. B. 
Tozer, the low comedian of G. A. 
Hough's company, and Greenbury C. 
Germon, who was the father of EfRe 
Germon, who was at that time only 
eight years old and who afterward at- 
tained a brilliant reputation as a star. 
In the company was Frank S. Chan- 
frau, who a few years previous had 
made a remarkable hit at Mitchell's 



536 
Olympic theatre as Mose, the fireman, 
in "A Glance at New York," and in 
his excellent imitations of other ac- 
tors in the part of Jerry Clip in the 
farce of "The Widow's Victim," some- 
times known as "The Stage-Struck 
Barber." 

When the company left New York 
it was under an agreement whereby 
Chanfrau was to receive one-half of 
the net receipts each evening. Chan- 
frau did not prove so great an attrac- 
tion as had been expected, and the 
comi)any broke up very soon after 
leaving Owego. Germon died in Chi- 
cago in the spring following his visit 
to Owego. He was the original Uncle 
Tom when the play was produced for 
the first time in America at the Troy 
museum in 1S53. His wife was the 
granddaughter of old Joseph Jeffer- 
son and cousin of the Joseph Jeffer- 
son, who was famous as Rip Van- 
Winkle. 

Chanfrau was supported here by 
Mile. Albertine, a danseuse in early 
life and afterward an actress. She 
supported the elder Booth and later 
travelled with Chanfrau from 1S50 to 
1857. In 1857 she went with Gustavus 
V. Brooke, the tragedian, to Australia 
and while there was stricken with a 
fever, which was followed by total 
blindness. Chanfrau's last appear- 
ance in Owego was in "Kit, the Ar- 
kansas Traveller," at Wilson opera 
house. He died at Long Branch Oct. 
2, 1884, leaving an estate valued at 
$300,000. 

In April, 1854, a company under the 
management of P. Page ran the play 
of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" one week. 
Mrs. Stowe's novel had been drama- 
tized two years previous, but it had 



537 
not reached Owego, and as it had 
made a sensation throughout the 
country the company drew good 
houses here. The leading actor was 
G. A. Nichols. 

The New York Dramatic Company, 
under the management of .James 
Ponisi, was at first refused a license 
by the board of trustees, but license 
was afterward granted by each mem- 
ber of the board individually. The 
company opened in "La Tour de 
Nesle" March 23, 1857. Mr. and Mrs. 
.J. B. Turner played the leading parts 
and Daniel Myron acted Irish char- 
acters in the farces. Lizzie Ross, a 
daughter of Tony Ross, of the G. A. 
Hough company and the wife of My- 
ron, was an excellent soubrette. The 
"old man" was H. O. Pardey, an Eng- 
lishman, an excellent actor and dra- 
matic author, who wrote the comedy 
of "Nature's Nobleman" for Wm. E. 
Burton. He was somewhat dissi- 
l)ated, and was found dead in the 
street in Philadelphia March 3, 1865. 

.lames Ponisi, the manager of the 
company, was an Englishman, a poor 
actor, and the husband of Madame 
Ponisi, who was for many years a 
leading actress in the New York the- 
atres. .J. B. Turner was stricken 
blind while playing with W. J. Scan- 
lan's company at Waterbury, Conn., 
in November, 1866. He had been on 
the stage thirty-six years at that 
time. 

A unique dramatic combination was 
the company managed by John F. 
Breyer, which opened at Ahwaga hall 
Aug. 5, 1858. It was composed of 
members of one family — Mrs. J. E. 
Breyer, her three sons and two daugh- 
ters. They had thirty pieces of 



538 

scenery. The stage was built at the 
north end of the hall. The scenery., 
flies, and wings were held in place by 
an ingenious arrangement of poles 
and heavy cords, not a nail being 
driven. They had the most complete 
outfit of properties and costumes ever 
carried by a travelling theatre, all of 
which they had brought with them 
from Scotland a short time previous 
to their visit to Owego, and which had 
been used by the father of the family, 
.John E. Breyer, who toured England 
and Scotland in Shakespearian plays 
for thirty years and who died in Scot- 
land in 1857, while travelling with his 
company. 

The expenses of the Breyers here 
were small, and their stay of three 
weeks In Owego was a profitable one, 
although the houses were light. They 
did not stay at a hotel, but hired the 
small house which is still standing on 
the south side of Temple street west 
of and adjoining the old grammar 
school building, where they "kept 
house," the same as their temporary 
neighbors. The music was supplied 
by a very large hand organ, which was 
kept behind the scenes. The com- 
pany played "Don Caesar de Bazan," 
•Pizarro," "The Castle Spectre," 
"Macbeth," "The Lady of Lyons," 
"Othello," "Rob Roy," "King Richard 
III," "The Honeymoon," "Douglas," 
and other standard plays, concluding 
each evening with a farce. The ver- 
satility and ingenuity shown by some 
of the members of the family in per- 
sonating three or four different char- 
acters in the same play was re- 
markable. 

After leaving Owego the family 
went west. Mrs. John F. Breyer, the 



5.^9 

mother, who was a most excellent 
actress, died at Fort Wayne, Ind., 
July 15, 1864. Then the family be- 
came scattered. John F. Breyer, the 
eldest son, was for several years the 
leading man in the stock companies 
in various cities of the west. He after- 
ward managed his own company, 
known as the Maggie Breyer Comedy 
Company, and was very successful. 
He died at Creston, 111., Feb. 12, 1889. 

William V. Breyer, the younger 
brother, was afterward a member of 
western stock companies and was 
manager later of the Enoch Arden 
Combination, in which he sustained 
the principal roles. Several years 
ago he purchased a ranch near North 
Platte, Nebraska, and retired from the 
stage. He was too good an actor to 
have wasted his talent travelling in 
the west. Had he remained in New 
York he would have acquired reputa- 
tion and fortune. 

The eldest sister. Miss Mary 
Breyer, was for many years known 
throughout the United States as a 
leading actress in city theatres and 
was manager of the Mary Breyer 
edy Company. While playing with 
Otis Skinner's company at Nashville, 
Tenn., in February, 1899, she was 
taken ill and died at a sanitarium. 
At one time there were three Breyer 
companies on the road, John F. 
Breyer heading the Breyer Dramatic 
Company in Illinois, Ohio, and West 
Virginia; Wm. V. Breyer heading the 
Enoch Arden Combination, playing 
Enoch Arden, Rip Van Winkle, and 
other pieces in Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
and Iowa, and the Mary Breyer Com- 
edy Comi)any, touring Indiana, Ken- 
tucky, and Virginia. 



540 

A theatre under the management of 
Morris & Brink opened at Ahwaga 
hall January 29, 1859. Edw. H. Brink 
was a good actor, but his partner, 
Morris, was a very bad one. Jenny 
Stanley was the leading lady. The 
low comedian was Thomas G. Riggs, 
an actor of Irish characters. He was 
a comedian of the highest order and 
afterward played in all the large the- 
atres in the United States. He went 
to Australia and died in Tasmania in 
1899. 

In January, 1860, Charles Plunkett, 
an English actor, who came to Amer- 
ica in 1858 and was the leading actor 
at Placide's Varieties, , the chief the- 
atre in New Orleans, La., came to 
Owego with a travelling company. 

The low comedian, James S. Math- 
ews, was also an Englishman, and was 
the father of the famous equestrienne 
known as Ella Madigan, who was then 
a child. He afterward managed a the- 
atrical company of his own. He was 
manager of a theatre in Rochester five 
years and there he lost the savings of 
many years. He studied law and es- 
tablished himself at Oswego, where he 
died in 1891. 

Another member of the company 
was Edw. T. Clinton, a son of the 
famous tragic actress, Mrs. Shaw, 
whose second husband was Thomas 
S. Hamblin, the tragedian, who was 
for twenty-three years manager of the 
Bowery theatre in New York. Clinton 
was a fine tenor singer and had been 
a member of the Rosalia Durand 
opera troupe. In addition to appear- 
ing in all the plays he sang "Larboard 
Watch," "Sally in Our Alley," and 
other old-time ballads between the 



541 

l)ieces. The leading lady was Jose- 
iihine Woodward. 

In the company was L. Chester 
Bartlett, of Binghamton. He was a 
brother of Rev. William Alvin Bartlett, 
who was pastor of the Owego Congre- 
gational church in 1857-8. He was then 
but a mere youth, but had consider- 
able talent. He abandoned theatri- 
cals, however, and became sheriff of 
Broome comity and served as member 
of assembly. 

Plunkett was a gifted actor, some- 
what resembling in api)earance 
Charles F'etcher, the celebrated 
French tragedian. He was a genial 
man socially, and in telling Irish or 
Scotch stories he was inimitable in his 
dialect imitations. The year previous 
to his appearance here he was was the 
tragedian at the New Bowery theatre 
in New York. He died in Detroit, 
Mich., in April, i882. His wife was a 
fine actress and one of the handsom- 
est women ever seen on the stage at 
Owego. She died at Fort Wayne, 
Ind., in September, 1867. 

Ashley's hall was built in 1862 by 
Martin Ashley, who came to Owego a 
few years previous and opened a sa- 
loon and restaurant on the west side 
of Lake street, in which business he 
was very successful. The ground on 
which Ashley hall stood is on the west 
side of Lake street and is now occu- 
pied by Hill & Parker's brick block. 
The land was owned by Lorenzo 
Reeves, whose widow married Col. 
Benoni B. Curry. The buildings on 
the property were all burned in the 
fire of 1849 anu the land was subse- 
quently owned by Abner L. Ely, of 
New York city, of whom Mr. Ashley 



542 

bought it January 28, 1862. Mr. Ash- 
ley built a brick block thereon, in the 
second story of which was a hall, 
which he called Ashley's hall. The 
hall had a level floor, with a stage at 
the west end with a gallery along the 
north side over the stairway. 

One of the favorites at this time 
was William A. Rouse, a popular 
comic actor, whose right name was 
William Augustus Fitznarding Berke- 
ley and who came of an aristocratic 
English family at Cheltenham, Eng- 
land. He was a good actor even when 
badly intoxicated, which was fre- 
quently his condition. He died in 
New York city in 1885. His wife, 
Fanny Denham Rouse, had been a 
great favorite at the Bowery theatre 
in New York and was a finished ac- 
tress. She was a member of various 
companies in New York city after her 
husband's death. 

Another popular company was man- 
aged by John F. Sherry, who had been 
the leading man at one of the Phila- 
delphia theatres and who first visited 
Owego in January, 1866, and played in 
Ashley hall. He usually played two 
nights in each city or village he vis- 
ited. He was the first manager in 
these parts to bring out entirely new 
plays. When any new piece was par- 
ticularly successful in New York he 
l)urchased the right to produce it on 
the road, and as his company was a 
strong one the production was good in 
every instance. He played several 
seasons and was financially very suc- 
cessful, but after a few years he met 
with reverses through which he lost 
all he had saved. He left the stage 
and became a commercial traveller. 
Sherry was the first manager who had 



543 

a brass band with his company. Some 
of the members of the band also con- 
stituted the orchestra. 

Sherry's leading actress was Jennie 
Carroll, whose husband, John W. Car- 
roll, was also a member of the com- 
pany. She was a great favorite in 
those days. Her face was round and 
expressionless, but as an emotional 
actress she was one of the best ones 
that ever appeared here. She was at 
one time leading lady at the Park the- 
atre in Brooklyn and later the leading 
support of Edwin Booth at the Four- 
teenth Street theatre in New York. 
She died in January, 1897, in New 
York. The best comedian ever with 
Sherry's company was Harry Hawk, 
a clever actor and good fellow, who 
was playing Asa Trenchard in "The 
American Cousin" on the stage of 
Ford's theatre at Washington when 
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by 
John Wilkes Booth. 

From 1866 to 1871 Sherry's New 
York theatre was the most popular 
company on the road. It travelled 
through New York and Pennsylvania, 
seldom going outside of taose states. 

Mr. Ashley sold his block August 
16, 1867, to Dr. James Wilson, who ex- 
pended about $2,000 in enlarging and 
improving the hall and changed its 
name to Wilson hall. In the night of 
August 16, 1867, a fire broke out in W. 
D. Ireland's boot and shoe store under 
the hall and the building was burned. 
Dr. Wilson immediately rebuilt the 
block, but constructed it as cheaply 
as possible. Later he furnished it 
with scenery, tlie first scenery that 
had been owned by a theatre at Owe- 
go. Then it became known as Wilson 
opera house. 



544' 

The interior of the theatre was'- 
burned out early in the evening ot 
November 9, 1899, through the ex- 
plosion of some films of a moving pic- 
ture machine. It was rebuilt, but was. 
entirely destroyed by another fire, 
which broke out in a bakery on the 
ground floor at 4 o'clock in the morn- 
ing of FebniaFy 28, 1904. 

After Sherry's company disappeared 
from the stage conditions in the theat- 
rical world undei-went a change and 
Owego, like other towns, became a 
"one night stand." IMany noted play- 
ers appeared a.t Wilson opera house 
at various times, among whom were 
Laura Keene, Kate Claxton, Caroline 
Richings and Zelda Seguin with the 
Castle-Campbell opera troupe; E. Z. C. 
Judson, the novelist, known as "Ned 
Buntline;" Buffalo Bill, Edward Har- 
rigan, John S. Clark and .John E. 
Owens, two of the best comedians 
ever seen in America; John T. Ray- 
mond, McKean Buchanan, Marie Zoe, 
George L. Fox, and many other theat- 
rical celebrities. In the fall of 1876i 
Ada Rehan appeared here with John 
T. Raymond's company, playing in a 
dramatization of Mark Twain's "A 
Gilded Age," and a few months after- 
ward she became the leading lady at 
Daly's theatre in New York and the 
foremost actress on the American 
stage. 



545 
Some Account of the Owego Post Of- 
fice and Postmasters from the Year 
1800, When There Were but 903 
Offices in the Entire United 
States, to the Present Day — In One 
Instance the Strife for the Position 
of Postmaster Is Settled by a Spec- 
ial Election of Patrons of the Office 
by Direction of the Democratic Dis- 
trict Committee. 

The census of 1790 reported only 
five post offices in the United States. 
In 1800 the number had been in- 
creased to 903. The first post office 
at Owego was, probably, established 
in 1800. The records of the post of- 
fice department at Washington show 
that the first report rendered from 
the Owego post office was from Jan- 
uary 1, 1801, by David Jones, and it is 
probable that he was appointed at 
about that time under the administra- 
tion of president John Adams. 

But little is known of Mr. Jones. He 
was one of a family of early settlers 
here and was a brother of deacon 
Solomon Jones, who lived near the old 
Tinkham plaster mill on the west side 
of the Owego creek, north of this vil- 
lage. It is probable that Mr. Jones 
kept the post office in his dwelling 
house. The country was at this time 
generally unsettled, the population 
was widely scattered, and this was 
the only post office anywhere in these 
parts. 

In 1801 Thomas Jefferson was elec- 
ted president, and the Federalists, af- 
ter having controlled the government 
twelve years, passed from power, 
never to be restored. The accession 
of a Democratic administration was 
followed by a decapitation of Federal 



546 

postmasters. Mr. Jones was succeed- 
ed as postmaster of Owego by Eleazer 
Dana, who was appointed April 2S, 
1S02, and he held the office fourteen 
years. His residence was on the north 
side of Front street on the ground 
now occupied by Lewis H. Leonard's 
house and the post office was kept in 
a small building on the opposite side 
of the street on the bank of the river, 
which Mr. Dana also occupieu as his 
law office. At this time about all of 
the few houses at Owego were on the 
road now known as Front street. 

Mr. Dana was succeeded as post- 
master by Stephen B. Leonard, who 
was appointed May 11, 1816. Mr. 
Leonard was the editor and publisher 
of the Owego Gazette. He removed 
the post office into his printing office, 
which then occupied the second story 
of John Hollenback's store on the 
north side of Front street. It was the 
second building west of Paige street 
and is now owned and occupied by A. 
C. Burt, having been reconstructed in- 
to a dwelling house many years ago. 
The entrance to the post office was 
by a flight of stairs on the north side 
of the building. Mr. Leonaru held the 
office only one term of four years, but 
many years later he was reappointed. 
Dr. Jedediah Fay was first appointed 
|)ostmaster May 15, 1820, by postmas- 
ter-general R. Meigs, and he held the 
office continuously for twenty-two 
years. Judge Stephen Mack was for 
some time his aeputy. Dr. Fay's 
second commission was issued by 
president Martin Van Buren Feb. 8, 
1838. At the time of his appointment 
Dr. Fay lived in a little red house, 
which stood close to the sidewalk at 
the southeast corner of Front and 



547 

Church streets. There was no street 
then where Church street is now. 
After a time Dr. Fay took charge of 
judge John R. Drake's mercantile 
business and removed the post office 
from his little red house into 
judge Drake's store, which stood 
into judge Drake's store, which stood 
on the south side of Front street, op- 
posite Lake street. Later he removed 
the office into a wooden building one 
and one-half stories high, which stood 
two doors east of the Drake store and 
in which he had opened a drug store. 
When Dr. Fay built his brick store in 
1835 on the north side of the street 
where Ahwaga hall now stands the 
post office was removed thereto, and 
there it remained until 1S41. 

The election in 1840 of Gen. Harri- 
son to the presidency and the accession 
of the Whig party to power was fol- 
lowed by a change in postmasters and 
Col. Daniel Ely was appointed to suc- 
ceed Dr. Fay. His appointment was 
dated Feb. 4, 184L^ Col. Ely removed 
the post office into his store, which 
was on the south side of Front street 
opposite where the First national 
bank now stands. This store was on 
the ground on which H. N. Hubbard 
afterward built the brick store, which 
still stands there and which was until 
recently occupied by E. E. Strait & 
Co. as a book store. 

In November, 1844, James K. Polk 
was elected president by the Demo- 
crats, and his election was followed by 
another general decapitation of post- 
masters. On the 20th of that month 
Stephen B. Leonard was again ap- 
pointed postmaster. Mr. Leonard re- 
moved the office into Isaac Lillie's 
vacant store, which stood at the north- 



548 
east corner of Front and Lake streets, 
where W. B. Partridge's drug store 
now stands. 

Another change in the national ad- 
ministration took place in 1848, when 
Gen. Zachariah Taylor was elected to 
the presidency by the Whigs and Mr. 
Leonard lost his official head. His 
successor was Charles R. Barstow, 
who was appointed postmaster April 
18, 1849. The office was still kept in 
Mr. Lillie's building until it was 
burned in the great fire of September 
in that year. Then Mr. Barstow re- 
moved the office temporarily to his 
residence, which is still standing on 
the east side of Paige street, the sec- 
ond house north of East Temple 
street. He soon built a small two- 
story wooden building on the south- 
east corner of the lot now owned by 
Dr. A. D. Gould on the north side of 
Main street, opposite the Owego hotel. 
The lot was owned by Dr. H. N. East- 
man. The second story of the build- 
ing was occupied by Wm. Fields as a 
harness shop. The office was kept in 
that building until December 15, 1851, 
when it was removed to one of the 
stores in the Ahwaga house block in 
Front street. The old post office 
building was removed in December, 
1853, from Dr. Eastman's lot to Lib- 
erty street and converted into a dwell- 
ing house. 

Charles R. Barstow was a promi- 
nent resident of Owego. He was a 
son of Dr. Samuel Barstow, of Great 
Barrington, Mass., and was born in 
March, 1804. When about twelve 
years of age he came to the town of 
Nichols to live with his uncle, Dr. 
Gamaliel H. Barstow, who had settled 
there four years previous. When a 



549 

:voimg man lie engaged in the genera'i 
mercantile business at Nichols. He 
was commissioner of the United 
States deposit fund from 1840 to 1842. 
Tn 1843 he was elected sheriff of Ti- 
oga county and removed to Owego, 
In 1846, at the expiration of his term 
of office, he was elected to the assem- 
bly. His term as postmaster expired 
in 1853. He was then appointed gen- 
eral wood agent of the New York and 
Erie railroad, and held that position 
until March, 1854, when he was ap- 
l)ointed paymaster of the western di- 
vision of the road. In April, 1865, he 
was appointed port warden of New 
York city and held the position until 
August, 1868, when he resigned. He 
died at Big Rapids, Mich., Dec. 10, 
1880. Mr. Barstow's eldest daughter 
was the wife of senator Thomas C. 
Piatt. 

Hiram A. Beebe succeeded Mr. Bar- 
stow as postmaster upon the election 
of Franklin Pierce to the presidency 
in 1852, which restored the Democrats 
to power. There was considerable 
strife in Owego over the appointment 
and the several candidates consented 
to the holding of a special election to 
decide the matter. The election was 
held accordingly at the old Tioga 
house in North avenue, by direction 
of the Democratic district committee. 
All persons who received and sent let- 
ters through the post office and who 
had voted the Democratic ticket at 
the last election previous were al- 
lowed to vote. John J. Taylor, mem- 
ber of congress-elect, was chairman 
and the polls were kept open from 3 
to 4:30 and 7 to 8 p. m. Mr. Beebe 
received 217 of the 267 votes cast, and 
his two competitors 27 and 23, respec- 



550 
lively. Mr. Beebe was accordingly ap- 
pointed postmaster May 4, 1853. On 
the 16th of the same month he re- 
moved the post office into one of the 
stores in T. P. Patch's brick block 
on the west side of Lake street, 
which ground is now covered by the 
L. N. Chamberlain brick block. The 
office was at the back part of the 
room and the rest was occupied as a 
news office by A. R. & C. C. Thomas. 
Mr. Beebe held the office by reappoint- 
ment through the administrations of 
presidents Pierce and Buchanan and 
during a portion of the Lincoln admin- 
istration — a period of nine years. 

Mr. Beebe was born in the town of 
Bridgewater, near Montrose, Pa., 
March 11, 1817. He learned the 
printers' trade at which he worked as 
a journeyman until 1838, when he be- 
came editor of the Bradford Democrat 
at Towanda, Pa. In January, 1843, he 
came to Owego and was editor of the 
Gazette thirty-seven years. He was 
president of the village of Owego in 
1852, 1861. and 1871, and in 1874 and 
1875 he had charge of the state de- 
partment of public records at Albany. 
He died at Owego March 31, 1897. 

Charles Stebbins succeeded Mr. 
Beebe as postmaster June 30, 1864, 
and in March 186 <, he was reap- 
pointed. He removed the office to the 
east side of Lake street into the 
wooden building now occupied by the 
Owego national bank. Mr. Stebbins 
resigned the office in 1871. Mr. Steb- 
bins was bom in October, 1820, at 
Watertown, N. Y., and came to Owego 
in 1839. He died here Dec. 11, 1882. 

Frank L. Jones was appointed to 
succeed Mr. Stebbins as postmaster 
Feb. 17, 1871, and held the office two 



551 
terms of tour years each. He was 
born at Lisle, N. Y., Oct. 20, 1822. He 
came to Owego in 1837 and was a 
clerk in Allen & Storrs's store. He 
was engaged in the mercantile and in- 
surance business many years. He was 
elected sheriff of Potter county. Pa., 
in 1852, and was appointed sheriff of 
Tioga county to fill a vacancy in 1868. 
In 1869 he was president of Owego 
village. In July, 1880, he was ap- 
l)ointed agent and warden of Auburn 
state prison. He died at Coudersport, 
Pa., Nov. 8, 1882. 

Daniel M. Pitcher succeeded Mr. 
Jones as postmaster in March, 1879, 
and he also held the office two terms 
of four years each. During his first 
term of office, in October, 1870, the 
post office was removed into Jones & 
Stebbins's brick building on the east 
side of Lake street, where it still 
remains. 

Mr. Pitcher was born at Norwich, 
Conn., in 1822, and lived at Owego 
much of his life, dying here Fgb. 4, 
r.ii)4. He was engaged many years in 
buying and shipping wool. He held 
the omce of village supervisor three 
years and was one of the commission- 
ers who built the Tioga county court 
house in the village park. He was 
l)resident of the Owego national bank 
from January, 1888, until the year of 
his death. 

Grover Cleveland was elected presi- 
dent in 1884 by the Democratic party 
and he allowed Mr. Pitcher to serve 
the rest of his term as postmaster, 
which did not expire until 1887. When 
Benjamin Harrison (Republican) was 
elected president in 1888 he was not 
quite as considerate, and he removed 
Mr. Cable in the middle of his term 



552 

and appointed William Smyth in liis 
place on Sept. 16, 1889. 

When Grover Cleveland was re- 
elected president in 1892, he appointed 
Jonas Shays post master June 28, 1893. 
The nomination was not confinned by 
the senate and Cleveland appointed 
William J. Atchison, Mr. Shay's" 
brother-in-law, to the office on August 
30, 1894. In 1896 William McKinley 
was elected president and Wm. A. 
Smyth, editor of the Owego Times 
was appointed May 12, 1897, to suc- 
ceed Mr. Atchison and he still holds 
the office by repappointment in 1901, 
1905, and 1909. 

William Smyth was bom June 19, 
1819, in county Derry, Ireland. He 
was principal of the Owego academy 
from 1848 to 1854, and editor of the 
Owego Times from 1854 until his 
death on Sept. 27, 1898. He was a 
village tnistee in 1863 and 1864 and 
was president of the village in 1865, 
1866, 1867, and 1881. He was chief 
engineer of the Owego fire department 
in 1862, 1863, and 1864. In 1872 he 
represented Tioga county in the as- 
sembly. The next year he was ap- 
pointed deputy superintendent of the 
insurance department of this state 
and on the death of Orlow W. Chap- 
man in 1876, he became acting super- 
intendent and held the office until 
1877. 



55,^ 

Some Account of the Old Susquehanna 
River Bridge, Which Was Built in 
1828 and Swept away by a Big 
Flood Forty Years Afterward. Its 
Place Being Supplied with a Trestle 
Bridge, Which in Turn Gave Place 
to the Present Iron Bridge. 

The first bridge across the Susque- 
hanna river was built in 1807, at Sid- 
ney, Delaware county, N. Y., by 
Phineas Bennett, .John Avery, and 
Capt. Hugh .Johnston. 

The first bridge built across the 
Susquehanna river in Owego was fin- 
ished and opened to public travel in 
1828. It was built by a stock company 
twelve years after the comi)any's in- 
corporation. 

The act incorporating the conii^any 
liassed the legislature and became a 
law April 17, 1816. By this act 
Eleazer Dana, James Pumpelly, Gen. 
John Laning, Horatio Ross, John R. 
Drake, Charles Pumpelly, John H. 
Avery, Nathan Camp, and William 
Camp were created a body corporate 
under the name of "The President and 
Directors of the Owego Bridge Com- 
pany" for a term of thirty years. Gen. 
Ansel Goodrich, James Pumpelly, and 
John R. Drake were appointed com- 
missioners, to fix upon the spot where 
the bridge should be built at a com- 
pensation of $4 a day each while at 
work. The act prescribed that the 
bridge should be at least twenty-five 
feet wide, covered with plank two and 
one-half inches thick, and that the 
opening between the piers should be 
in width not less than ninety feet, for 
the passage of rafts and boats. It was 
also prescribed that during the exis- 
tence of such bridge no other bridge 




The First Bridge Built Across the Susquehanna River at Owego in 1828. 



555 

'rfhoiild be built ium- any ferry es alv 
lished across the river within tliree 
miles. The act also fixed the rates of 
toll. The act provided that if the 
bridge should not be built and com- 
pleted on or before Nov. ], 1821, then 
the corporation created by the act 
should be dissolved. 

No bridge was built, on account of 
difficulty in obtaining subscriptions 
to the stock. Six years afterward, on 
April 12, 1822, another act was passed 
by the legislature reviewing and con- 
tinuing in force the act of 1816 for 
three years, to allow the company time 
to complete the bridge. April 20, 1825, 
another act was i)assed, extending the 
time three years more and appointing 
James Pumpelly, .John R. Drake, and 
Charles Talcott commissioners, in 
l)lace of the three appointed by the 
act of 1816. 

December 19, 1S2S, Samuel S. and 
David P. Tinkham, for a consideration 
of $100 sold the land occupied by the 
north abutment and approach to the 
bridge to the bridge company. The 
same day James Pumpelly sold for a 
consideration of $1 the land on the 
south side of the river for the abut- 
ment and approach to the bridge. 

The first stock for the construction 
of the bridge was issued May 7, 1828. 
The engineer who planned the bridge 
and had charge of its construction was 
Ephraim I.each. The builder was 
Abner Beers, who built the Owego 
academy in 1827. 

Some account has already been 
given in these articles of Mr. Leach 
and Mr. Beers. Mr. Beers was a car- 
penter and lived on the lot now owned 
by Mrs. E. J. Pride on the south side 




The South Abutment of the Bridge as it was left after the rest of the bridge' 
had been swept away in the great flood of March, 1867, with Samuel 
Archibald's Tannery on the bank below. 




The Trestle Bridge Built by Wheeler H. Bristol in 1868. 



557 

t)f Front street, west of Academy 
street. The model of the bridge was 
•constructed in Mr. Beers's house. It 
was made of pieces of wood one inch 
square. A portion of the timbers for 
the bridge was framed in the village 
park and the rest on the south side 
of the river. All the pins for holding 
the timbers together were made in 
Gen. John Laning's storehouse, which 
stood a little east of the bridge and 
which was used by the carpenters as 
a tool house. 

When the bridge was being built it 
was generally believed that the 
wooden piers would not be strong 
enough to resist the ice, but they 
lasted, with occasional repairs, for 64 
years, and until the present iron 
bridge was built in 1893. 

In the night of Feb. S, 1842, there 
was a great flood in the river, caused 
by rain* and melting snow. The water 
was several feet higher than it had 
been before in thirty years. Build- 
ings, mill dams, lumber, hay, hogs, 
and cattle were swept away. Nearly 
all the railroad bridges in the country 
were carried off. In Canawana people 
were removed from their homes on 
rafts and boats, and one family was 
taken out of their house through the 
roof. A saw mill struck the bridge in 
the night. The mill was broken in 
pieces and the pieces were deposited 
on the bridge, but the bridge was so 
solid and strong that it was not car- 
ried away. 

In the night of Oct. 5, 1867, a fire 
broke out in Bullock's brewery, below 
the bridge and burned much property 
on both sides of Front street, above 
and below the park. One span of the 
bridge was burned. It was imme- 




The North End of the Trestle Bridge built by Wheeler H. Bristol. 




The Iron Bridge built in 1892 by the Owego Bridge Company. 



559 
diately afterward rebuilt, and the 
bridge was open to travel again in the 
following January. 

On Sunday night, the loth of the fol- 
lowing March, there was another 
great flood in the river. The ice car- 
ried away three or four of the inner 
spans of the bridge. The following 
Tuesday morning at 6 o'clock the 
heavy ice above Hiawatha island 
came down in a solid sheet the entire 
width of the river and swept away the 
rest of the bridge. The loss was a 
total one. 

The bridge company at once con- 
tracted with Wheeler H. Bristol, of 
Owego, who had built many railroad 
bridges, to build a trestle bridge in 
l)lace of the old one at a cost of 
$54,550. It was 920 feet long, with 
nine spans, and the roadbed was 32 
feet above low water mark. It was 
completed and opened to the public 
Nov. 1, 1868. 

The bridge had always been a toll 
bridge. In 1861, the question of the 
])urchase of the bridge by the village 
and opening it free to the public was 
agitated. Toll bridges had been made 
free throught the country and the pay- 
ment of bridge toll by the people liv- 
ing south of Owego who came here to 
trade was a tax that was detrimental 
to the village. 

The original charter provided that 
after a term of thirty years from the 
date of the completion of the bridge, 
the bridge and its approaches should 
become the property of the people of 
the state. When tue charter was re- 
newed, in 1825, this clause was re- 
l^ealed, and it was provided that after 
the expiration of forty years from the 
time of the completion of the bridge 



560 

It should become the property of the 
state. 

An action was brought in the su- 
preme court in 1860 to take the bridge 
from its owners and make it a free 
bridge, on the ground that the charter 
had expired. The case was argued in 
February, 1861, at the Chemung coun- 
ty special term by Benj. F. Tracy for 
the people and George Sidney Camp 
for the bridge company. The case 
was decided in favor of the company. 

In May, I88I, a bill was passed by 
the legislature, authorizing a public 
meeting of the taxpayers of the vil- 
lage of Owego, to decide whether the 
bridge should be purchased by the vil- 
lage and maintained as a free bridge 
or not, the bridge company having 
agreed to sell the bridge for $25,000. 
The election was held July 18 at Wil- 
son hall, where 318 votes were cast for 
the proposition and 68 against it. The 
bill authorized the bonding of the vil- 
lage for $10,000, after $15,000 should 
be raised by voluntary subscription. 
The money was raised and the bridge 
was purchased in the following De- 
cember. 

In the sununer of 1891, the board of 
supervisors of Tioga county authorized 
the bonding of the town of Owego for 
$60,000 for the construction of an iron 
bridge, in place of the wooden one, 
which had been condemned as unsafe 
for travel. The bridge, with its spans 
elevated above the railroad tracks at 
the south end, was built the next year 
at a total cost of about $100,000. Of 
this amount the D., L. W. R. R. Co. 
paid $13,000. The stone work of the 
bridge was built by Ford & Bauer on a 
contract for $22,897. The iron work 



561 
was built by the Owego bridge com- 
]iany. The bridge was completed and 
opened to the public in the fall of 
1S93. 

A History of the Old Owego Academy, 
Which Was Built in 1827 from the 
Proceeds of the Sale of the Gospel 
and Literature Tracts of Land by 
Amos Martin — It Has Had Twenty- 
one Different Principals, One of 
Whom Was an Accomplished Native 
of Russian Poland, Who Could Write 
and Speak Twenty-five Different 
Languages. 

The old Owego academy, which is 
still standing in Court street, was 
built in 1827 with money obtained 
from the sale of lands given by the 
state for the support of schools. It 
was incorporated April 16, 1828, by 
James Pumpelly, Eleazer Dana, Gen. 
Anson Camp, and others, who had sub- 
scribed largely for the building, and 
when the subscription lacked $800 to 
complete it, Mr. Pumpelly advanced 
the money. 

By an act of the legislature of the 
state of New York, passed in 1782, a 
lot of 400 acres was reserved in each 
township of the Military tract for the 
support of the gospel, and two lots of 
200 acres for the support of schools. 
In each of four townships a lot of t.-i0 
acres was reserved for schools. One 
of these townships, then known as 
Hambden, comprised parts of the 
])resent towns of Owego, Vestal, and 
Nichols.* 

♦Hainlulen \v:is, pmliably, the naiiie givt'Ti to 
the tract in a land jjatcnt by the patentee ami 
used in the description of deeds. It is not known 
that it was ever regularly orsanized as a town. 
The east line of Hainbden was a north and south 
line running from the south line of the Boston 




The old Owego Academy in Court street in 1S53, when Hon. William Smyth 
was Principal, Reproduced from a Wood Engraving. 



563 
The literature and gospel lots m 
Hanibden townshii). of which James 
Pumpelly was appointed the agent, 
were situated adjoining each other, 
about three miles southwest of Apa- 
lachin. 

In 1S17 the question of building an 
academy in Owego was first agitated. 
The lot on which the academy build- 
ing was subsequently erected on the 
east side of Court street was a por- 
tion of the land which was given Feb. 
28, 1797, to "the trustees of Owego 
settlement" by James McMaster for a 
public ground. This piece contained 
three acres, one rood, and twenty 
rods of land, and comprised all the 
territory now occupied by Park street. 
the park, Court street, the jail and old 
county clerk's office premises, and the 
old academy property. The trustees 
were Capt. Mason Wattles, John Mc- 
Quigg. and Capt. Luke Bates. Their 
successors in office were Eleazer 
Dana, John H. Avery, and Gen. Anson 
Camp. The last named trustees, Octo- 
lier 29. 1822, deeded that portion of 
the land now occupied by the jail, 
sheriff's residence, and old clerk's of- 
fice to Tioga county, pursuant to the 
provisions of an act of the legislature 
passed April 17. 1822. 

At the annual town meeting of the 
town of Owego, held at the old school 
house, which stood on the south side 
of Main street, near Academy street, 
March 4, 1817, the following preamble 
and resolutions were adopted: 

Purchase to the I'enii.sylvania line a little east 
of the Xanticoke creek, and probably ran ibi'i'Mly 
thronsh what is now the village of Union. The 
north line was the sonth line of the Boston Pur- 
(■hase, from there to the mouth of the (1wet:-o 
creek, and thence to the Pennsylvania line. Thv 
Sus(|nchanna river was its nortli boundary an.l 
the state line its south boun<lary. 




The Owego Academy in Court Street, after It Was Changed from a Three Story 
to a Two Story Building, and as It Stands To-day. 



565 

"Whereas, The tract of land within 
this town known to us by the name of 
the gospel reservation, originally 
granted with other tracts by the state 
for gospel purposes, now lies waste 
and useless to the community; and 

"Whereas, Said land might be so ap- 
priated within this town as eiTectually 
to promote the great object for which 
it was originally granted; therefore, 
unanimously 

"Resolved, That the supervisors and 
clerk of this town be hereby author- 
ized and directed to petition the legis- 
lature of this state at their present 
session in behalf of said town for a 
special act to have the title of said 
land vested in the trustees of the 
Owego Congregational society and 
their sucessors in office, that the said 
land may be appropriated as originally 
designed." 

April 12, 1826, an act was passed by 
the legislature, appointing James 
Pumpelly .William Camp, and John H. 
Avery commissioners, to take charge 
oi the gospel and school lot, together 
with the supervisor of the town of 
Owego (William A. Ely), to sell and 
dispose of it and apply the proceeds 
to such school and literary purposes 
as should be directed by a vote of the 
inhabitants of the town. 

December 19, in the same year, Gen. 
Anson Camp and eleven other free- 
holders signed a petition requesting 
the town clerk (Jared Huntington) to 
call a special town meeting, in pur- 
suance of the act. The election was 
held on the 30th day of the same 
month at Philip Goodman's coffee 
house in Front street and it was de- 
cided by a unanimous vote to appro- 
priate the yearly income of the annual 
interest arising from a sale of the 
gospel and school lots to the endow- 
ment of an academy, to be built in 
this village. 



566 

April 8, 1828, Messrs. Dana, CamiJ, 
and Avery, the commissioners of the 
"settlement," (Owego had been in- 
corporated as a village April 4, 1827), 
deeded the old academy lot in Court 
street, for a consideration of one dol- 
lar, to the trustees of the Owego 
academy. 

The academy was built by Col. 
Amos Martin, on a contract in 1827, 
and Abner Beers had charge of its 
construction. 

It was three stories high, with a 
steeple, in which was a bell. The 
lower floor was for many years occu- 
pied as a school room for girls, the 
upper floor by the principal, who 
taught Latin and Greek, and the mid^ 
die floor by the principal's assistant, 
who taught mathematics. 

In the summer of 1851 a three-story 
addition to the rear of the academy 
was built, greatly increasing its ca- 
pacity. Several years later the inside 
of the main building was torn out and 
it was changed from a three story 
building to a two story one. 

James Pumpelly was president of 
the first board of trustees of the acad- 
emy. The board was composed of 
Rev. Aaron Putnam, Col. Amos Mar- 
tin, Dr. Joel S. Paige, Latham A. Bur- 
rows, Eleazer Dana, Gurdon Hewitt, 
Rev. Joseph Castle, Charles Pumpelly, 
Jonathan Piatt, Anson Camp, and 
Stephen B. Leonard. 

Rev. Edward Fairchild was the first 
principal of the academy, and his as- 
sistants were Hamilton VanDyke and 
Joseph Pattee. The school was 
opened in April, 1828, and the first ex- 
amination was held at the close of the 
term, on. September 30. The academic 
year was divided into two terms. The 



567 

summer term began on the third 
Wednesday in April, and continued 
two quarters, or twenty-four weeks. 
The winter term began on the third 
Wednesday in October and continued 
twenty-four weeks. Each term em- 
braced two quarters of twelve weeks 
each, leaving two vacations in the 
year of two weeks each. The tuition 
was $2, $3, and $4 per quarter, accord- 
ing to the studies pursued. There 
were 60 male and 61 female pupils the 
first term. In 1850, the year previous 
to the building of the three story ad- 
dition to the building, the number had 
increased to 153 male pupils and 107 
female. 

The only pupils of the academy at 
its opening term now living are Her- 
mon C. Leonard, of Portland, Oregon, 
and J. H. Martin, of Tioga Centre, 
wno is a son of Amos Martin, the 
builder of the academy and one of its 
first board of trustees. 

The second principal was .Joseph M. 
Ely, a graduate of Yale college, who 
before coming to Owego was a teacher 
in the New York high school. He began 
his duties at the spring tenii in 1830. 
In the following spring (1831) it was 
announced that the condition and 
prospects of the academy were so flat- 
tering that the trustees would add a 
juvenile department to the two de- 
partments already existing. The 
other teachers were Russell E. Dewey, 
Miss Katherine H. Whitney, and Miss 
Mary A. Whitney. 

In the spring of 1835, A. Clarke was 
principal, but he remained only a year 
and was succeeded at the fall term in 
1836 by R. M. Stansbury, who had just 
graduated at Princeton college. 

The teachers at the commencement 



568 

of the fall term in 1837, were Joel T. 
Headley, Isaac B. Headley. and Miss 
Irene Headley. In the following year 
Isaac B. Headley was principal and 
Miss Jennett M. Hall head teacher in 
the female department. 

In the spring of 1839 the number of 
pupils had increased to 187. Mr. 
Headley was still principal. Charles 
R. Coburn* entered the school as mas- 
ter of the common school teachers' de- 
partment. 

The principals of the academy from 
its foundation to the present time are 
as follows: 

1. Rev. Edward Fairehild, 1828-1830. 

■1. .Joseph M. Elv, 1830-1835. 

3. A. Clarke, 1835-1837. 

4. R. M. Stanstnirv, 1836-1837. 

5. Isaac B. Headlev, 1837-1844. 
(i. .Joseph M. Elv, 1844. 

7. .1. N. .Jerome, 1844-1847. 

S. Theo. F. Hay, 1847-1849. 

'.). Wni. Smyth, 1849-1854. 

10. .James M. Biirt, 1854-1856. 

11. X. B. Wiggins, 18.56-1860. 

12. Jjeopold .J. Boeck, 1860-1863. 

13. .Joseph \. Prindle, 1863-1869. 

14. Jonathan Tennev. 1860-1871. 

15. T. L. Gris\v(d.l. IsTl ls7:i. 

16. A. .J. Robb, is;:; isv, 

17. A. M. DniiiniH.i;,]. ls;'/-issi. 

18. Henrv A. Bale; isM lsS4. 

19. Philo P. Edifk, 18S4-1SS6. 

20. Ezra .J. Peek, 1886-1900. 

21. Herbert L. Russell, 1900-. 

Mr. Fairehild, the first principal 
was advanced in years, and, as de- 

*Charlcs R. Colmrii was illiterate and could 
not spell many of the eommonest words correetly, 
but he was a tlioroush nuitheuiatieian. He was 
very round-shoulder<cl, witli slcni features, and 
usually had his h;iir s.i iImsi1\ (roppi.l ili.ii il 
stood erect all over hi^ Ii.m.I. L;nni'-; liini sn.li .i 
forbidding appearand' thn li. lirM In- vommir 
pupils in awe. He had lieeii raiMni ijii a taini.aud 
lieeaiTie so hump-backed that he could not hold 
his head erect, caused by carrying heavy pails of 
water with a neckyoke when young. He left 
Owego in 1853 and was professi.r of mathematics 
in the Collegiate instiim. :it 'I'^wanda, Pa., and 

afterward superintend! m ^t s. 1 Is of Bradford 

county until the s|irinLr ni ls(i.j, when Gov. 
Curtin appointed him sui)erinten<lent of the com- 
mon schools of the state of Pennsvlvania for 
three years. He died March 6, 1868, in Xiehols, 
where, owing to failing health he had purchased 
a homestead, within a few miles of his birth- 
place, and settled there to spend the rest of his 
ilays. 



569 

scribed by one of his pupils, was a 
■'blue Presbyterian." 

Joseph M. Ely, the second princi- 
pal, went from Owego to New York 
city, where he was for several years 
engaged in the wholesale grocery 
business. About the year 1857 he 
came to Waverly, where he was sta- 
tion agent of the New York and Erie 
railroad. Thence he went to Athens, 
Pa., where he was principal of the 
academy and where he died Jan. 1, 
1872. He married Miss Juliette M. 
Camp, daughter of William Camp, of 
Owego, while living in this village. 

Isaac B. Headley, the fifth principal, 
married Miss Susan C. Piatt, daugh- 
ter of William Piatt, of Owego. He 
died Jan. 20, 1854, in the Island of St. 
Thomas, where he was living for the 
benefit of his health, aged 44 years, 
and his body lies in Evergi'een ceme- 
tery. His brother. Rev. Joel T. Head- 
ley, became famous as a historian. 
He was born at Walton, N. Y., and 
was 24 years old when he came to 
Owego. After leaving this village he 
entered Union college, from which he 
was graduated in 1839. He studied 
theology in Auburn theological semi- 
nary, and afterward was pastor of the 
Presbyterian church at Stockbridge, 
Mass. He was elected secretary of 
state on the "Know-Nothing" state 
ticket in 1855. He wrote "Napoleon 
and His Marshals," "Washington and 
His Generals," "History of the War of 
1812," and many other works. He 
died at Newburgh, N. Y., Jan. 16, 1897. 

J. Newton Jerome came from Pom- 
l)ey Hill, Onondaga county. His wife 
was Miss Lesbia Piatt Avery, a daugh- 
ter of John H. Avery, of Owego. 



570 

Theodore P. Hay was a son of Rev. 
Philip C. Hay, who was pastor of the 
Presbyterian church of Owego. After 
his graduation from Hobart college he 
became principal of the academy in 
the spring of 1847. 

William Smyth resigned as princi- 
pal in 1854 and became editor of the 
Owego Times, of which he was editor 
until nis death. He was a graduate of 
the Royal academic institute of Bel- 
fast, Ireland, and for many years one 
of the prominent citizens of Owego. 
He died Sept. 27, 1898. 

James M. Burt came from Cortland 
in the fall of 1854 and was principal 
two years. He died in Owego in 1870. 

Before coming to Owego A. B. Wig- 
gin had been a teacher in New Eng- 
land schools. 

i>eopold J. Boeck was a Russian 
Pole, educated in the universities of 
Breslau and Berlin, in Prussia. His 
sympathies were early enlisted in the 
Hungarian cause and he became 
Louis Kossuth's confidential secre- 
tary. While a member of Gen. 
Bemm's staff he was sent by Kossuth 
as diplomatic agent of Hungry to ask 
the intervention of Turkey. The Hun- 
garians were forced to surrender to 
Roumania, and Boeck and the other 
leaders were made prisoners of war. 
After his discharge from prison he 
came to America. He came to Owego 
in the fall of 1860 and became prin- 
cipal of the academy. He left Owego 
in the summer of 1863. Afterward he 
was professor of applied mathematics 
and civil engineering in the Univer- 
sity of Virginia at Charlottesville. He 
is said to have been able to write and 
speak twenty-five different languages. 



571 
He died in Philadelphia, Pa., May 18, 
1896, aged 77 years. 

Joseph Addison Prindle was a grad- 
uate of Union college. From the 
spring of 1854 until the fall of 1863 he 
was principal of the "Owego Home 
School," a boarding school for boys, 
established by Revs. Corbin Kidder 
and S. C. Wilcox, two miles east of 
Owego. He went from Owego in Sep- 
tember, 1869, to Oswego, where he 
was for two years principal of the 
state normal school. He died at Apa- 
lachin Feb. 24. 1905, aged 76 years. 

.Jonathan Tenney was a native of 
Vermont, and a graduate of Dart- 
mouth college in 1843. He came to 
Owego in October, 1869. He resigned 
in July, 1871. He removed in August, 
1874, to Albany, having been ap- 
pointed deputy state superintendent 
of public instruction. He died in that 
city Feb. 24, 1888, aged 70 years. 

Theophilus L. Griswold was a grad- 
uate of Amherst college. He resigned 
his position of principal in July, 1873, 
to become the head of the state nor- 
mal school at Bloomsburg, Pa. In 
1877, owing to nervous prostration, he 
resigned and went to Sherburne Falls. 
Mass., where he committed suicide 
March 5, 1884. He was 54 years of 
age. 

Prof. A. J. Robb came to Owego in 
the fall of 1873 from Waterford, Sara- 
toga county, where he had been prin- 
cipal of the academy. He was prin- 
cipal of the union school at Spencer, 
after leaving Owego, and in 1879 was 
appointed superintendent and princi- 
pal of the city schools at Cohoes, N. Y. 
A. M. Drummond left Owego in the 
summer of 1881, having been ap- 



572 

pointed superintendent of the public 
schools of Port Chester, N. Y. 

Henry A. Balcam, who had been for 
eight years superintendent of the 
schools at Corning, came to Owego in 
August, 1881. It was owing chiefly to 
his energy that the project of building 
the new academy was pushed to com- 
pletion in 1883. In Sept., 1884, he be- 
came principal of the academy at New 
Paltz, N. Y. He died at Salamanca, 
,N. Y., Oct. 11, 1891, aged 55 years. 

Philo P. Edick was bom at Os- 
wegatchie, N. Y., and graduated from 
Rochester university in 1873. tie 
came to Owego in July, 1884, from 
Chittenango, N. Y., where he had been 
principal of the Yates school. He 
went from Owego to Rochester, N. Y., 
where he was principal of ward 
school No. 5 until March, 1900. He 
died Sept. 5, 1907, at Mystic, Conn., 
where he was principal of the Mystic 
academy. He was 56 years of age. 

Dr. Ezra J. Peck was a graduate of 
Williams college. Previous to com- 
ing to Owego he was for five years 
principal of the academy at Phelps, N. 
Y., and subsequently for 11 years prin- 
cipal of Homer academy. He re- 
signed his position as principal of the 
Owego academy in December, 1900, 
having been appointed by the state 
board of regents as an inspector of 
high schools and academies, and Her- 
bert L. Russell, who had been assist- 
ant principal, was appointed principal 
in his place. 

In 1864 the Owego academy was 
merged into the union free schools of 
Owego by an act of the legislature, 
passed April 23, 1864. 

In 1883 the new academy building 
was built at the corner of Main and 



573 

Academy streets at a cost of $2o,000. 
The old academy building, which is 
still standing, and the lot on which it 
stands were sold to judge Chas. A. 
Clark for $2,600. 



A History of the Presbyterian Church, 
the First Church Organized at Owe- 
go, with Some Account of the Early 
Preachers and Places of Worship 
from the Year 1798 to the Present 
Day. 

The early history of the First Pres- 
byterian church of Owego is somewhat 
obscure. It is known that the general 
assembly of the Presbyterian church 
at its annual meeting in 1790 devoted 
much of its attention to the subject 
of cnurch extension, with the result 
that Revs. Nathan Kerr and Joshua 
Hart were sent as missionaries into 
southwestern New York, and Mr. 
Kerr came to Owego that year. 

The country here at that time was a 
dense wilderness, the first white set- 
tler having settled here only six years 
previous. The early missionaries rode 
from place to place on horseback over 
the Indian trails and through the 
woods. They were the subjects of the 
hospitality of the church people as 
they went from place to place. 

Rev. Seth Williston was the first 
minister who came to these wilds. He 
came as early as 1798, preaching and 
organizing churches. Once a year he 
held service in a barn built by Col. 
David Pi.xley, which stood on the north 
side of Main street, a little west of 
McMaster street. The floor of this 



574 

barn was made clean and a table and 
chair were provided for the preacher, 
while the congregation found seats as 
they could. The boys climbed upon 
the hay loft and sat upon the great 
beam which was around the barn, and 
they made an ornamental fringe with 
their bare legs, which swung and 
dangled overhead through the time of 
the service. 

Mr. Williston was born at SufTield, 
Conn., in 1770. He was graduated 
irom Dartmouth college in 1791, was 
licensed to preach Oct. 7, 1794, and 
was sent out as a missionary by the 
missionary society of the state of 
Connecticut in 1798. Several books 
containing his sermons were published 
at various times from 1799 to 1848. 
He died in 1851. 

It is probable that meetings were 
held at the houses of the early settlers 
at first and until a log school house 
was built about the year 1792 on the 
east side of Court street, opposite 
where the court house now stands. 
Religious meetings were held at this 
school house several years and until 
a two-story frame building was 
erected about the year 1800 on the 
south side of Main street, a little west 
of White's blacksmith shop, which 
stood where the rectory of St. Paul's 
church now stands. This building was 
about thirty by twenty feet in size. 
The second story was used by the ma- 
sonic fraternity as a lodge room and 
the first floor as a school room. The 
lower floor was divided into two parts 
by a partition. This partition was so 
arranged that it could be drawn up by 
a rope to the ceiling, thus making one 
large gathering place for Sunday 



575 
meetings. Here church services were 
held until the first session house was 
built several years later in Court 
street, near where the log school 
house stood. It stood on the north 
end of the Laning lot and south of 
and adjoining the lot on which the 
Tioga county clerk's office now stands. 

This session house was built by 
Richard E. Cushman, and it was used 
for prayer meetings even after the 
Presbyterian church was built in 1819 
at the corner of North avenue and 
Tem])le street, because the church 
was at that time considered to be "too 
far out of town ' and people did not 
care to walk that distance. 

There were three different session 
houses. The first one in Court street 
was on ground given for that purpose 
by Mrs. John Laning. This building 
was about 20 by 30 feet in size. It 
was removed to near where the Erie 
railway freight house now stands and 
was occupied as a church by the 
Bethel African M. E. society, for sev- 
eral years and until it was moved to 
the north side of Fox street opposite 
the present A. M. E. church, where it 
was converted into a dwelling house 
and where it still stands. 

The second session house was built 
by Capt. Sylvanus Fox where the 
present session house now stands be- 
tween the Presbyterian church and 
Temple street. This was also given 
to the A. M. E. society when the pres- 
ent session house was built. It was 
removed to the south side of Fox 
street, where it Is still occupied by 
the colored people as their church. 



576 
The present session house was built 
in 1857. It was enlarged in August, 
1878, by the addition of a wing to the 
south side, near the rear of the build- 
ing, to be used as a parlor. The main 
building was also extended back sev- 
eral feet, to enlarge the library and 
class rooms. In the summer of 1901 
the building was again enlarged by 
building a wing on the north side 30 
by 14 feet for a kitchen. At the same 
time a new roof was placed on the 
church and a new steel ceiling inside. 
A cellar was also excavated under the 
entire church. There had previously 
been two small cellars, in which were 
the furnaces. The improvements to 
the church and the session house cost 
about $3,000. 

Rev. William Clark, of whom little 
is known, came here in 1803 and 
preached to the people. It is not 
known how long he remained here, 
but it is known that after his de- 
parture Mr. Williston remained here 
as the settled pastor of the church. 

In the year 1803, according to a 
writer in the Gazette forty years ago, 
there were but few frame houses in 
town. One of these was the James 
McMaster house on the south side of 
Front street, east of and near Acad- 
emy street. Another was a large 
building which was intended for a jail 
and stood near the northeast corner 
of Front and Court streets, and which 
was later converted into a tavern. A 
third was the Bates tavern at the 
northwest corner of Front and Church 
streets, and far and far up the river, 
as it seemed, for the thick woods that 
darkened the way, was the dwelling 
house of John Hollenback. There 



577 
were several log cabins in different 
directions. One of the better class of 
these stood where the drug store of 
Otis S. Beach now stands at the north- 
east corner of Main street and North 
avenue. Between that point and the 
Huntington creek there was a dense 
wilderness, with the tall pines scarcely 
a yard apart. There were no Indians 
here then, but the wolves, their com- 
panions, barked and howled on the 
hills at night and the deer, when pur- 
sued by huntsmen, came bounding 
through the valley to the river, across 
which they would often swim. One 
deer with tall, branching horns, which 
was closely i)ursued, ran through Mrs. 
Collier's school room, taking with it 
the window (sash, glass and all), 
much to the terror and astonishment 
of the children. 

At a meeting of the Presbytery of 
New .Jersey, held in April, 1810, at 
Trenton, a letter was received from 
some residents of Owego, requesting 
the Presbytery to send a missionary 
to this village to labor among them a 
part of the coming summer. The com- 
mittee to whom the application was 
referred reported that Owego "is a 
growing village, containing about 200 
houses. The neighboring country on 
the banks of the river is well settled 
and contains many respectable inhabi- 
tants, emigrants from different parts 
of the union." The committee for- 
warded to the general assembly's 
committee on missions the opinion 
that the Presbytery ought to comply 
with the wishes of the peoi)le of Owe- 
go. Rev. Daniel Loring was sent here 
accordingly. 

As Mr. Loring had never been or- 
dained it was decided to make his or- 
dination an important public event. 



578 

The services were to have taken place 
August 7, 1810, on a large platform 
which had been erected for the pur- 
pose at the south end of the village 
park, surrounded by temporary 
benches made of rough boards, with 
capacity to seat two hundred people. 
The members of the choir of singers 
were dressed in uniform, the ladies in 
white, with wreaths of green. Invita- 
tions had been sent to the towns in 
the vicinity, and a large crowd had 
gathered. As the services were about 
to begin a terrific thunder shower 
swept over the village, driving every- 
body from the park to places of shel- 
ter. The church people went to the 
Main street school house. 

The storm was regarded as an 
omen by the superstitious. The pas- 
tor and people would not be happy in 
each other, they said, and this singu- 
larly proved true. Mr. Loring preached 
here five years and was then silenced 
from preaching and, as a local writer 
said, "became a wicked man." Sev- 
eral clergymen succeeded him, among 
them an Episcopalian, who was will- 
ing to preach for Presbyterians, but 
he, too, proved unworthy of his 
charge. 

The ordination of Mr. T.oring took 
place at the school house directly after 
the storm. At the same time the 
"Owego Congregational Society" was 
organized and trustees were elected 
as follows: Solomon Jones, Caleb 
I^each, Abraham Hoagland, William 
Camp, .lames Pumpelly, and Eleazer 
Dana. Three days afterward the trus- 
tees made a written contract with Mr. 
I^oring "to preach for themselves and 
their successors in ofiice for one-half 
the time for the term of one year." 



579 
In 1817 Rev. Hezekiah May became 
pastor of the church. July 24 of that 
year the church was regularly or- 
ganized as the "Owego Congregational 
Church" with eleven members, as fol- 
lows: Solomon Jones, Nathan Camp, 
William Jones, Lorenzo Reeves, Dolly 
Talcott, Marjery Jones, Ruth Good- 
rich, Sarah Goodrich, Clarissa Jones, 
Sally Penfield, and Mary Perry. The 
organization was effected by Mr. May, 
assisted by Revs. William Wisner, of 
Ithaca, and Jeremiah Osborn, of Berk- 
shire. Two years after this the first 
church at the North avenue and Tem- 
ple street corner was built. Mr. May 
was pastor of the church less than a 
year. He was succeeded in the spring 
of 1818 by Rev. Horatio Lombard. Mr. 
May died in 1843, aged 69 years. 

Although Mr. Lombard came here 
in the spring of 1818, he was not regu- 
larly ordained and installed as pastor 
of the church until Oct. 28. He 
preached here nine years. Mr. Lom- 
bard was a nephew of deacon Solomon 
Jones and came here from one of the 
eastern states. Mr. Jones was a far- 
mer and lived near the old Tinkham 
plaster mill in the town of Tioga. He 
was looked upon as the congregational 
leader and in the absence of the pas- 
tor he was accustomed to read two 
sermons on Sunday. Mr. Lombard 
lived near the Tinkham mill at the 
time of his death, when he was nearly 
eighty years old. 

The movement to build a church be- 
gan during Mr. May's ministry. Oct. 
10, 1817, the society inirchased of 
Charles Pumpelly for $100 an acre and 
twelve perches of land at the north- 
east corner of Temple street and 



5S0 
North avenue, on which the first 
church was built in 1819. The 
builder's name was McGeorge. It was 
44 feet wide and 53 feet deep with 
large pillars in front. The building was 
painted white. The pulpit was a lofty 
one, between the entrance doors at 
the west end. 

In 1831 the church was enlarged by 
building an addition of twenty feet in 
length at the east end. Mr. Lombard 
organized the first Sunday school in 
1819. The teachers were Mrs. Jared 
Huntington, Jacob Miller McCormick, 
and Chas. B. Pixley. The first bell 
in Owego was placed in the steeple of 
this church in 1826. 

The Presbyterian church came near 
being burned in February, 1842, while 
it was being cleaned. John Freeman, 
the sexton, went to Ebenezer Allen's 
house, which adjoined the church 
property on the north, to obtain a 
shovel full of live coals, with which 
to build a fire in the church. There 
was a high wind blowing at the time, 
and as he came upon the steps some 
coals were blown from the shovel and 
fell on the stoop setting it on fire. 
The flames had extended up into the 
steeple when the firemen came with 
their hand engine. H. W. Williams, 
who for many years lived as bridge 
tender at the south end of the old toll 
bridge across the river, climbed on the 
church with ladders lashed together 
and cut a hole through the roof into 
the steeple. A stream of water was 
thrown through the hole and the 
flames were finally extinguished, after 
a considerable portion of the roof had 
been burned. The steeple was so 
badly burned that it had to be rebuilt. 



381 

In 1850, during the pastorate of Rev. 
Philip C. Hay. the long talked of 
division of the Presbyterian society 
was consummated, the Congregational 
portion of the membership having 
taken letters preparatory to organiz- 
ing a new society, with Rev. Samuel 
C. Wilcox, who had been pastor of the 
Presbyterian church from 1842 to 
1846, as their pastor. The seceders 
organized the "Independent Congrega- 
tional Society" at the Presbyterian 
session house Jan. 2, 1851, and built 
their first church in Park street in the 
same year. In October, 1852, the trus- 
tees of the Presbyterian society were 
directed to procure the passage of an 
act of the legislature changing the 
name of the "Owego Congregational 
Society" to the "First Presbyterian 
Society of the Village of Owego," and 
the change was so made by legislative 
enactment in June of the following 
year. 

The growth of the First Presby- 
terian church was so rapid that in 
1852 the question of building a new 
church edifice was agitated. The so- 
ciety had voted that year to expend 
$2,000 in improving the church, but it 
was afterward decided to build an en- 
tirely new building of brick. No fur- 
ther action was taken until May, 1854, 
when a building committee composed 
of William F. Warner, Frederick E. 
Piatt, and Thomas I. Chatfield was ap- 
pointed to superintend its construc- 
tion. The organ was removed from 
the church to the village hall, which 
hall was then above the four fire com- 
panies' room in Main street and occu- 
pied all of what is now the second and 
third floors of the fire deparment 
building. The entrance to this hall 




The First Presbyterian Church, Built in 1854, and Chapel, Built in 1857. 



5S3 

was through double doors at the top 
of the tirst flight of stairs between 
that building and the store at the 
northwest corner of Main street and 
North avenue. In the village hall ser- 
vices were held until the old church 
was torn down and the new one 
erected in its place. The congregation 
worshipped in the old church May 7, 
1854, for the last time and the next 
day the work of demolition was be- 
gnn. 

The architect of the new church 
was Gervase Wheeler, of New York 
city, and the builder was Chauncey 
Hungerford, a member of the congre- 
gation. The church was built on a 
contract, and as the cost of construc- 
tion was greater than had been ex- 
pected, Mr. Hungerford was a loser. 

The corner stone of the new church 
was laid June 20, 1854, by Rev. Samuel 
H. Cox, of New York city, who the next 
year became pastor of the church. 
The building was duly completed and 
was dedicated May 2, 1855, Mr. Cox 
preaching the dedication sermon. The 
new church was built under the super- 
intendence of William F. Warner and 
the grounds and terrace as they at 
liresent appear were planned and laid 
out by him. In February, 1857, a new- 
bell was purchased and placed in the 
church tower. It weighed 2,0;i8 
pounds and was the largest bell in 
Owego. 

The pastors of the Presbyterian 
church from its organization, in 1817, 
to the present time have been as fol- 
lows: 

Rev. Hezekiah May, July, 1817— 
spring of 1818. 

Rev. Horatio Lombard, Oct. 28, 1818 
—Aug. 2, 1827. 



584: 

Rev. Aaron Putnam, Dec. 6, 1827^ — 
Dee. 28, 1831. 

Rev. Charles White, April 19, 1832— 
May 25, 1841. 

Rev. Samuel C. Wilcox, May 24, 
1842— April 30, 1846. 

Rev. Seth WillistOD, July, 1846 — 
April 4, 1847. 

Rev. Philip C. Hay, April 15, 1847 — 
Oct. 7, 1855. 

Rev. Samuel H. Cox, Oct. 10, 1855— 
Sept. 6, 1856. 

Rev. Samuel H. Hall, Jan. 27, 1857 
—May 3, 1864. 

Rev. Solon Cobb, Aug. 29, 1864— 
Sept. 7, 1869. 

Rev. Samuel T. Clark, July 1, 1870 — 
June 27, 1875. 

Rev. L. A. Ostrander, Sept. 28, 1876 
—Nov., 1882. 

Rev. William H. Gill, June 7, 1883— 
July 30, 1885. 

Rev. Alexander Cameron MacKen- 
zie, January 30, 1886— Apiil 20, 1897. 

Rev. Geo. D. Young, Oct. 8, 1897— 

Rev. Daniel Loring lived in a house 
on the north side of Main street where 
the Park hotel stands. This house 
was a part of the estate of Dr. Samuel 
Tinkham and was later occupied by 
his son, David P. Tinkham. 

Rev. Hezekiah May during his brief 
pastorate lived at the Deforest tavern 
In east Front street, east of Paige 
street. Mr. Lombard lived in west 
Front street, west of Academy street, 
in the house which was afterward for 
many years owned and occupied by 
Thomas M. Nichols. Mr. Putnam 
lived and died in the same house. Mr. 
White also lived there. 

The first manse was the house now 
owned and occupied by D. H. Blood- 
good on the west side of Park street. 
This property was a part of the es- 
tate of Dr. Tinkham, and after his 
death James Pumpelly built the house 
there. It was occupied by Dr. William 
Jones ' until the Presbyterian society 



585 
l)urchased it for $2,500 on a contract. 
Rev. Philip C. Hay lived there all 
through his pastorate. It was sold 
Nov. 25, 1856, by Mr. Pumpelly's exe- 
cutors to Dr. 1^. H. Allen for $1,850. 

The society owned no manse after 
this sale until 1888, when the present 
one was built in Temple street. 

During the pastorate of Dr. Hay, 
Rev. Samuel Hanson Cox came to 
Owego and in November, 1853, pur- 
chased the property in the town of 
Tioga which he named "Vesper Cliff," 
and lived there during his sojourn of 
three years here. The pastors who 
succeeded him liveo in rented houses 
in various parts of the village. 

The new manse on the north side 
of Temple street, nearly opposite 
Ciiurch street, was built in 1888 at a 
cost of about $4,000. 

The brick session house, or chapel, 
now standing on the churcn grounds 
in Temple street was built in the sum- 
mer of 1859 by Chauncey Hungerford 
and A. H. Keeler. It is 58 by 32 feet 
in size. Mr. Hungerford, who received 
$1,775 for building the chapel, to- 
gether with the old ssesion house, sold 
the session house for $150 to the A. 
M. E. society and it was removed to- 
Fox street, where it is still used by 
that society as its church. 

Rev. Aaron Putnam's pastorate here 
closed with his death on Dec. 28, 1831. 
He was born in 1789 at Pomfret, Conn. 
His father whose name was also 
Aaron Putnam, preached fifty years in 
the New England Congregational 
church at Pomfret. In early life he 
was in business in Philadelphia with 
his father-in-law, Mr. Green, but gave 
up business to study for the ministry. 
His grandmother was the widow of 



586 
Mr. Avery, whose daughter was the 
wife of Gen. Israel Putnam of revolu- 
tionary fame and was an own cousin 
of his father, Rev. Aaron Putnam, of 
Pomfret. Mr. Putnam came to Owego 
from Philadelphia. William F. War- 
ner, in his centennial history of Tioga 
county (1876) says of Mr. Putnam: 

"The four years of this most excel- 
lent man's ministry at Owego were a 
time of delightful memories. It was 
at a period when there was a deep in- 
terest in religious matters throughout 
the country. The remarkable preach- 
ing of Rev. Asahel Nettleton, D. D., of 
Connecticut, and the publication by 
him of the collection of devotional 
hymns known as "The Village 
Hymns," in 1842 had awakened pro- 
found interest far and wide. But per- 
haps nowhere was the influence of the 
excellent Dr. Nettleton more felt, nor 
his manners and mode of conducting 
religious services more closely fol- 
lowed with similar results, tnan here 
under the ministry of Mr. Putnam. 
His style of preaching, like Dr. Nettle- 
ton's, was highly emotional, yet sob- 
ered by a moderation that prevented 
its reaching the point of excess. In 
the full tide of his ministry, his life 
was terminated, amid the grievous lam- 
entation of the peoi)le, by whom he 
was universally loved." 

Rev. Charles White was one of the 
ablest men that ever filled a puli)it 
at Owego. He was born at Randolph, 
Mass., Dec. 28, 1795, and was gradu- 
ated from Dartmouth college in 1821 
with the first honors of his class. He 
concluded his studies at Andover theo- 
logical seminary in 1824. From Jan. 
1, 1825, he was settled over a Congre- 
gational church at Thetford, Vt., as 
collegiate pastor with his step-father, 
Rev. Dr. Burton. Four years later he 
became pastor of the Presbyterian 
church at Cazenovia, N. Y., where he 
remained until called to Owego in the 



587 
spring of 1S32. In 1841 he resigned 
liis pastorate here and went to Craw- 
fordsville, Iiid., where on July 19, 1842, 
he became president of Wabash col- 
lege, succeeding E. W. Baldwin, D. D., 
who had died on the 15th of the pre- 
vious October, falling dead while writ- 
ing a sermon in the evening. 

Upon the removal of Mr. White 
from Owego, N. P. Willis wrote a 
lioem entitled, "On the Departure of 
Rev. Mr. White from His Parish," the 
opening lines of which read as fol- 
lows: 



tliou 
"Served God 


with 


;ill lunnilitv nl 


Dwelling amona' u 


IS, and "with ni; 


"From house 


to ll 


loiisr," liv niulit 


ceasinir. 






Hast pleaded 


thy 


best en-and. \a 


Leave us not 


now 


! 



Rev. Samuel Corlyus Wilcox was 
bora Dec. 21, 1809, at Sandisfield, 
Mass., and was graduated in 1835 from 
W^illiams college. He afterward 
taught three years in the Lenox, 
Mass., academy and then entered Au- 
burn theological seminary, from which 
he was graduated in 1840. He then 
supplied the Congregational church at 
Berkshire one year. In the spring of 
1842 he became pastor of the Owego 
Presbyterian church, and preached 
here until April, 1S46, when he re- 
signed on accotmt of lack of sympathy 
between himself and his elders on the 
subject of slavery and constitutional 
polity. In February, 1847, he went to 
Williamsburg, Mass., where he was 
for two years pastor of the Congrega- 
tional church. In 1849 he returned to 
Owego at the solicitation of many 
members of his former congregation, 
who desired to form a new church and 
society. He became pastor of the 
Congregational church, which had 



588 

seceded from the Presbyterian so- 
ciety. He was a man of greater men- 
tal than physical strength, and was 
compelled on account of ill health to 
resign the pastorate on Sept. 11, 1853. 
In company with Rev. Corbin Kidder 
he established a school for boys, one 
and one-half miles east of this village, 
and lived there until his death six 
months later, on March 26, 1854. 

Rev. Seth Williston returned to 
Owego and became pastor of the 
church in July, 1846. He was a man 
of remarkable energy and ability. At 
this time he was nearly eighty years 
of age, but retained his physical and 
mental vigor. He was held in high 
estimation as a scholar and profound 
theologian. 

Rev. Philip Cortland Hay was a son 
of General Philip Hay, who was a 
member of Gen. Washington's staff 
auring the revolutionary war and one 
of the founders of the society of the 
Cincinnati, a military association 
formed by officers of the revolutionary 
army. Before coming to Owego he had 
been for ten years pastor of the First 
Presbyterian church of Geneva, N. Y., 
where he began his ministry Feb. 3, 
1836. He was dismissed April 9, 1846, 
and six days afterward became pastor 
of the church at Owego. Mr. Hay re- 
signed his i)astorate here in Septem- 
ber, 1855, owing to ill health and re- 
moved to Orange, N. J., where he died 
Jan. 27, 1866. William F. Warner in 
his centennial history of Tioga county 
says of Dr. Hay: 

"Eminently genial in social life. Dr. 
Hay was a man of great excellence of 
character, solid rather than brilliant, 
and sound and conservative in his 
views upou every subject. He was 



589 

held in high estimation by the clergy 
of the Presbyterian denomination, and 
was a safe and wise counsellor." 

Samuel Hanson Cox was one of the 
most famous preachers of his time. 
He was bom at Leesville, New Jersey, 
in 1793 of a Quaker family. He aban- 
doned the study of law for the min- 
istry and was ordained July 1, 1817. 
He became pastor of the Spring street 
Presbyterian church in New York city 
in 1820. On account of his activity in 
the anti-slavery movement his house 
and church were sacked by a mob 
July 10, 1834. The same year he was 
appointed professor of sacred rhetoric 
in Auburn theological seminary. From 
1837 to 1854 he was pastor of the First 
Presbyterian church of Brooklyn, and 
most of this time was also professor 
of ecclesiastical history in Union theo- 
logical seminary. New York. In June, 
1853, his voice having failed, he came 
to Owego to visit his early college 
friend. Rev. Philip C. Hay. In Novem- 
ber of the same year he purchased the 
"Vesper Cliff" property. In the fol- 
lowing May he resigned the pastorate 
of the Brooklyn church and removed 
here for the benefit of his health. 
When Dr. Hay resigned the pastorate 
of the Owego church, in 1855, Mr. Cox 
succeeded him and was pastor of the 
church until April, 1866, when he re- 
signed to take the presidency of the 
Female Collegiate Institute at LeRoy, 
Genesee county, N. Y. During the last 
twenty years of his life he lived in re- 
tirement. He died at Bronxville, N. 
Y., Oct. 4, 1880, aged 86 years. One 
of Mr. Cox's sons was Right Reverend 
Arthur Cleveland Coxe, Bishop of the 
Prostestant Episcopal church of the 
diocese of western New York, and an- 



590 

other was Rev. Dr. Samuel Hanson 
Coxe, who was rector of St. Peter's 
Episcopal church at Auburn and after- 
ward for twenty years rector of 
Trinity church at TJtica. 

Rev. Samuel H. Hall was born at 
Geneva, N. Y., in 1819, and was grad- 
uated from Union college in 1837 and 
from Union theological seminary in 
1843. His first pastoral charge was at 
Marshall, Mich. Thence he went to 
Syracuse as pastor of the Park Pres- 
byterian church, where he remained 
six years. He began his ministry at 
Owego Feb. 24, 1857. He resigned his 
pastorate here in May, 1864, and went 
with the union army to Virginia under 
the auspices of the Christian Commis- 
sion. From 1866 to 1888 he was sec- 
retary of the American Seamen's 
Friend society. He died Oct. 10, 1890, 
at Newark, N. J. 

Rev. Solon Cobb came to Owego in 
the summer of 1864 from New Bed- 
ford, Mass. He resigned the pastorate 
five years afterward and in Septem- 
ber, 1869, became pastor of a church 
at Medford, Mass. Thence he went to 
E}rie, Pa., and thence in February, 
1875, to become pastor of the Point 
Breeze Presbyterian church in a 
suburb of that city. He died May 26, 
1900, in Pittsburg, aged 62 years. Pre- 
vious to his leaving Owego the mem- 
bers of his church and congregation 
at a meeting in the session house 
presented him with a handsome silver 
pitcher as a testimonial of their love 
and affection. 

Rev. S. T. Clarke, a son of Rev. Dr. 
Walter Clarke, of Buffalo, preached 
here six years and resigned to accept 
a call to the Lake Street Presbyterian 
church at Elmira. He was several 



591 
years afterward pastor of the Presby- 
terian church at Aurora, N. Y., and 
later pastor of the churches at Port- 
ville and Mt. Morris, N. Y. 

Rev. Luther A. Ostrander came to 
Owego in 1876 from Dubuque, Iowa. 
Earlier in life he had been first tutor 
in Robert college, Constantinople, Tur- 
key, whence he came to Dubuque, 
where he was pastor of the First Pres- 
byterian church four or five years. In 
November, 1882, he resigned his pas- 
torate at Owego in order to accept a 
call to the First Presbyterian church 
of Lyons, N. Y. 

Rev. William H. Gill went from 
Owego to Philadelphia where he lived 
during the rest of his life. His health 
became impaired ana he retired from 
the ministry, and he was employed as 
a writer for a religious newspaper. He 
died in Philadelphia in 1906. 

Rev. Alexander Cameron MacKenzie 
was graduated in December, 1885, 
from Auburn theological seminary and 
was ordained pastor of this church 
May 25, 1886. Ten years later, in the 
summer of 1896, he engaged in rais- 
ing $100,000 by subscription to in- 
crease the endowment fund of Elmira 
female college. In April, 1897, he re- 
signed his pastorate to accept the 
];.-osidency of that college. 

Rev. George D. Young was born in 
1864 in New York city. He was grad- 
uated from New York university in 
1887 and from Princeton seminary in 
1897. He was ordained pastor of this 
church Oct. 8, 1897. 

Sunday morning, December 28, 1890, 
the centennial of the advent of Pres- 
byterianism in Owego was celebrated 
with appropriate exercises. Mr. Mac- 
Kenzie preached a historical sermon, 



592 

reviewing church events of the pre- 
ceding one hundred years. In the at- 
ternoon a union service of tlie Pres 
byterian, Congregational, Baptist, and 
Methodist churches was held. 

The "Owego Independent Congrega- 
tional Society," Its Meeting Houses 
and Its Pastors from the Time of 
Its Separation from the Presbyter- 
ian Society in 1849 to the Present 
Time. 

There was a long a diversity of 
opinion in relation to the ecclesiasti- 
cal character of the church known as 
the "Owego Congregational Society," 
which led to an estrangement of feel- 
ing among its members. The First 
Presbyterian church had been incor- 
porated by act of the legislature as 
the First Congregational church, and 
as such it had been legally known 
from its foundation. In the course of 
years, without any official or church 
action, the form of government was 
changed into a semi-Presbyterian 
form. 

In February, 1843, during the pas- 
torate of Rev. Samuel C. Wilcox, a 
meeting was held at the session house 
in Temple street for the purpose of 
changing the form of church govern- 
ment from Presbyterian to Congrega- 
tional. The proposition was freely 
discussed, but the preponderance of 
opinion appeared to be against the 
proposition and no action was taken. 
In 1846 a portion of the church 
deemed it proper that the matter 
should be fully investigated and all 
the facts made known to the society. 
To bring about this end a public in- 
vitation was given at a meeting at the 
session house on Jan. 6, 1846, to the 



593 

members of the church to meet at the 
same place Jan. 14. At this second 
meethig both interests were repre- 
sented, and a committee, composed of 
Dr. Lucius H. Allen, Henry W. Camp, 
and Andrew H. Calhoun, was ap- 
pointed to make the requisite exam- 
ination. The committee's report, dated 
Feb. 19, 1847, was printed in a 
pamphlet of sixteen pages in July, 
1847. 

In December, 1849, the long talked 
of division of the church on the gov- 
ernment question was consummated, 
the Congregational portion of the so- 
ciety having taken letters preparatory 
to organizing a new society. At a 
special meeting on Dec. 31 forty-six 
persons were upon their own request 
dismissed, for the purpose of forming 
the new "Owego Independent Congre- 
gational Society," which was regularly 
organized at a meeting of the eccles- 
iastical council at the session house 
Feb. 19, 1850. Rev. Richard S. Storrs, 
of Brooklyn, preached at the public 
services in the afternoon and Rev. 
Joseph P. Thompson, of New York, in 
the evening. At the time of this or- 
ganization Rev. Samuel C. Wilcox had 
returned from New York to assume 
the pastorate of the new church. 

The meetings of the new society 
were held at the court nouse until a 
new church was built in 1851. In Jan- 
uary of that year the society pur- 
chased of Thomas I. Chatfield for $900 
the lot on the west side of Park street, 
still owned and occupied by the so- 
ciety. A contract was made with 
Chauncey Hungerford, the builder of 
the Presbyterian church, and James 
Hill to erect a new church edifice for 
$5,100. The church, as shown In the 



1. ;.1|;- 





The First Congregational Church, Built in 1851 and Burned in 1877. 



595 

engraving accompanying this article, 
was completed that year. This was 
the largest church at that time in the 
village. In the steeple was placed a 
bel! weighing 1,S74 pounds, the largest 
bell then in Owego. The church was 
dedicated in the afternoon of Tuesday, 
Feb. 3, 1852. The dedication sermon 
was preached by Rev. R. E. Eggles- 
ton, of Brooklyn. Mr. Wilcox and the 
pastors of three other Owego churches 
assisted in the exercises. In August, 
1863, a new session house was erected 
in the rear of the church. 

The church and session house were 
burned in the morning of Dec. 3, 1877, 
by a fire which broke out near a chim- 
ney behind the organ in the wall be- 
tween the church and the Sunday 
school room. Nothing was saved from 
the church except a large bible and 
the pulpit chairs. 

Plans were at once made to build a 
new church on the site of the old one. 
At a meeting at L. N. Chamberlain's 
house, a committee was appointed to 
raise funds, prepare plans, etc., for a 
new church to cost from $10,000 to 
$12,000, the insurance money on the 
old church, $7,500, to be applied in 
part payment. In the mean time re- 
ligious services were held at the court 
house. A building committee com- 
l)osed of L. N. Chamberlain, John J. 
Hooker, Frank L. Jones, Roger B. 
Howell, and the pastor, Rev. W. 0. 
Scofield, was appointed. The archi- 
tect of the church was L. B. Valk, of 
New York city. It was built of brick, 
with stone trimmings, by Harrison 
Bros., of Fredonia, N. Y., and cost 
when completed $10,285. The building 
was 52 feet wide and 92V2 feet deep. 
An excellent view of the church is 




The Second Congregational Church, Built in 1878. 



597 
shown in the engraving. The new 
church was dedicated Dec. 11, 1878, 
Rev. Thomas K. Beecher, of Elmira, 
preaching the dedication sermon. 

There have been seventeen pastors 
of this church since its organization, 
as follows: 

Rev. Samuel C. Wilcox. 1849-Sept. 
11, 1853. 

Rev. Corbin Kidder, Sept. 11, 1853- 
Jan. 1, 1854. 

Rev. Wm. H. Corning, March 8, 1854- 
May 1, 1857. 

Rev. Wm. Alvin Bartlett, Sept. 12, 
1857-28 March, 1858. 

Rev. Samuel McLellan Gould, Sept. 
11, 1858-April 1, 1859. 

Rev. Moses Coit Tyler, May 1, 1859- 
June 24, 1860. 

Rev. Wm. W. Page, Dec. 9, 1860-Dec. 

I, 1861. 

Rev. Charles Hall Everest, Jan. 1, 
1862-Dec. 31, 1864. 

Rev. Chas. H. A. Bulkley, May 13, 
lS65-Jan. 1, 1867. 

Rev. James C. Beecher, May 4, 1867- 
May 1, 1871. 

Rev. Dwight W. Marsh, Aug. 1, 1871- 
April 1, 1876. 

Rev. Wm. C. Scofield, June 19, 1877- 
Oct. 19, 1880. 

Rev. Rufus Underwood, April, 1880- 
Oct, 1880. 

Rev. Miles G. Bullock, April 4, 1881- 
Oct. 19, 1886. 

Rev. Olin R. Howe, Feb. 3, 1887-Nov. 

II, 1888. 

Rev. D. W. Teller, Dec. 20, 1888- 
Sept. 3, 1893. 

Rev. Chas. M. Bartholomew, Jan. *, 
1894- 

Rev. Saiiiuel C. Wilcox was born at 
Sandisfield, Mass., Dec. 21, 1809. He 
was graduated from Williams college 
in 1835 and taught for three years 
thereafter in Lenox academy. He 
studied theology at Auburn seminary, 
graduating therefrom in 1840. He sup- 
plied the Congregational church at 
Berkshire one year and then came to 



598 

Owego, where he became pastor of the 
Presbyterian church. He was after- 
ward pastor of the Congregational 
church at Williamsburg, Mass., in 1847 
and 1848. The next year he returned 
to Owego, to assist in forming the new 
Congregational church. He resigned 
the pastorate of this church in Sep- 
tember, 1853. 

Rev. Corbin Kidder was born at 
Wardsboro, Vt., .June 1, 1801. He 
was graduated from Amherst college 
in 1828 and from Andover theological 
seminary in 1832. From 1834 to 1837 
he was pastor of the Congregational 
church at Saxonville, Mass., and dur- 
ing two years thereafter was agent for 
the American tract society. From 
1839 to 1845 he was pastor of the Con- 
gregational church at West Brattle- 
boro, Vt. From 1845 to 1853 he 
preached at Warsaw, Dryden, and 
Groton in this state. He came to 
Owego in the fall of 1853 and preached 
here four months. Then in company 
with his predecessor in the pastorate 
of this church, Mr. Wilcox, he opened a 
school for boys about a mile and a half 
east of this village- in a farm house, 
which was burned several years ago 
and which stood where the home of 
Harry B. Tilbury is now. Mr. Wilcox, 
who had resigned the pastorate of the 
church on account of ill health, died 
there March 26, 1854. Mr. Kidder con- 
tinued the school after Mr. Wilcox's 
death a few years. Then he went to 
Spencer, and was pastor of the church 
tnere from 1858 to 1862. He subse- 
quently preached at Churchville, N. 
Y.; Orland, Ind., and at Poplar Grove, 
111., where he died Dec. 29, 1874. 

William H. Corning, who was the 
first settled pastor of this church, was 



599 
born at Hartford, Conn., Dec. 15, 1820. 
He was graduated in 1842 from 
Trinity college and later from Yale 
theological seminary. From 1848 to 
1851 he was pastor of the Congrega- 
tional church at Clinton, Mass. He 
came to Owego in .January, 1854, and 
preached here three years until May, 
1857, when he resigned on account of 
ill health. He died at Saratoga 
Springs Oct. 9, 1S62. 

William Alvin Bartlett was one of 
the brightest and ablest of the young 
sensational preachers of his day. He 
was born Dec. 4, 1832, at Binghamton 
and was a son of Joseph Bartlett, of 
that city, who had been a resident of 
Owego several years previous. He 
was graduated from Hamilton college 
in 1852. He studied theology at Union 
seminary and then went to Germany 
and studied in Berlin. He was matri- 
culated from the university at Halle 
in 1857. He came to Owego the same 
year and was ordained pustor of the 
Owego church Sept. 12. He was im- 
mensely popular and the church was 
crowded to listen to his eloquent ser- 
vices, iiarticularly Sunday evenings. 
His reputation extended beyond Owe- 
go, and a year later he received a call 
to the pastorate of the Elm Place Con- 
gregational church in Brooklyn, N. Y. 
He preached there ten years, from 
Sept. 5, 1858, until Nov. 30, 1868, when 
he accepted a call to the pastorate of 
Plymouth Congregational church of 
Chicago with a salary of $5,000 a year, 
succeeding Rev. Lewis Matson, who 
had died. Mr. Matson was born at 
Owego and was a son of Newell Mat- 
son, one of the organizers of the Owe- 
go Congregational church. In Septem- 
ber, 1876, Mr. Bartlett resigned the 



600 
pastorate of Plymouth church to ac- 
cept a call to the Second Presbyterian 
church of Indianapolis. Ind., of which 
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher had some 
time previously been pastor, refusing 
to accept any increase in salary from 
the Indianapolis church. To accept 
this pastorate he was subjected to a 
rigorous examination of the Presby- 
tery and was installed according to 
Presbyterian forms and usages. In 
April, 1882, Mr. Bartlett received and 
accepted a unanimous call to the New 
York Avenue Presbyterian church at 
Washington, D. C. He was installed 
as pastor of the church October of 
that year. In October, 1894, after hav- 
ing been thixty-seven years in the 
ministry and for twelve years pastor 
of the New York Avenue church, Mr. 
Bartlett resigned on account of ill 
health and travelled in Europe. Since 
leaving Washington he has had no 
settled pastorate, having permanently 
retired from active church work. 

Samuel McLellan Gould was born at 
Gorham, Mass., Jan. 24, 1809. He en- 
tered Bowdoin college, but did not 
graduate, and studied theology after- 
ward with clergymen at East Hart- 
ford, Conn., and Troy, N. Y. From 
1837 to 1851 he preached at Norris- 
town, Pa., and from 1853 to 1857 at 
Biddeford, Maine. The next year he 
came to Owego, but remained only 
four months. He afterward preached 
at Allen town and Emporium, Pa. 

Moses Coit Tyler was one of the 
most noted of all the pastors of this 
church. He was born Aug. 2, 1835, at 
Griswold, Conn. He was graduated 
from Yale college in 1857 and from 
Andover theological seminary in 1859. 
He came immediately after his gradu- 



601 
ation to Owego, assuming the pas- 
torate of this church May 1, 1859. He 
remained here until Jmie 24, 1860, 
when he resigned his pastorate on ac- 
comit of ill health. Soon afterward 
he became pastor of the Congrega- 
tional church at Poughkeepsie, where 
he preached until 1862, when his 
health again failing he went abroad in 
1863, where he remained four years, 
pursuing his studies in literature and 
history, writing for American journals, 
and lecturing in Great Britain on 
America. From 1867 to 1873 he wa.s 
professor of English language and 
literature in the university of Michi- 
gan at Ann Arbor. In January, 1873, 
he became literary editor of the 
Christian Union In New York city. 
rie was ordained a deacon in the 
Prostestant Episcopal church in 1881, 
and priest in 1883. In 1881 he was 
ai)pointed professor of American his- 
tory at Cornell university, which posi- 
tion he held at the time of his death 
on Dec. 28, 1901. He was the author 
of many works on history and litera- 
ture. 

But little is known of Rev. William 
W. Page. He is supposed to have 
come from Fairfax Court House, Va., 
to Deposit, N. Y., and thence to Owe- 
go in 1860. He remained here only a 



vear 



Rev. Charles Hall Everest, who at- 
tained considerable prominence, was 
born at New Lebanon, N. Y., Feb. 14, 
1837. He was graduated from Will- 
iams college in 1859 and from Union 
theological seminary in 1861. He was 
ordained Dec. 30, 1861, in Plymouth 
church, Brooklyn, by his cousin. Rev. 
Henry Ward Beecher, whom he re- 
sembled in face and figure. He came 



602 
at once to Owego to assume the pas- 
torate of the Congregational church, 
which he held three years. In Jan- 
uary, 1865, he became pastor of the 
church of the Puritans in Brooklyn, 
then recently formed, and preached 
there twelve years. In February, 1877, 
he accepted a call to Plymouth church 
in Cnicago. Thus Owego furnished 
three pastors to Plymouth church in 
succession — Mr. Matson, Mr. Bartlett, 
and Mr. Everest. He became pastor 
on trial of the First Congregational 
church of Meriden, Conn., in Septem- 
ber, 1884, at a salary of $8,000. Nine 
months afterward he had some trouble 
with the church organist, who re- 
signed. As seven-tenths of the church 
supported the organist, Mr. Everest 
terminated his connection with that 
church. He was afterward pastor of 
churches at Norwalk, Conn., and East 
Orange, N. J., and of the First Con- 
gregational church at Washington, D. 
C. He died June 10, 1908, at his home 
in Brooklyn. 

Charles H. A. Bulkley was born at 
Charleston, S- C, Dec. 22, 1819. He 
was graduated from New York uni- 
versity in 1839 and from Union theo- 
logical seminary in 1842. From 1842 
to 1861 he was pastor successively of 
churches at New Brunswick, N. J.; 
Janesville, Wis.; Mt. Morris, and 
Ithaca, N. Y.; West Winsted, Conn., 
and Paterson, N. J. In 1861 he went 
as a chaplain in the union army and 
remained in the service seventeen 
months. He came to Owego in May, 
1867, and preached at the Congrega- 
tional church until January, 1867. 

James C. Beecher, a half-brother of 
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, was the 
youngest child of Dr. Lyman Beecher 



603 
and was born in Boston, Mass., Jan- 
nary S, 1S2S. He was graduated 
from Dartmouth college in 184S. 
He was for five years thereafter 
an officer on a clipper ship plying be- 
tween New York and China in the tea 
trade. He afterward studied theology 
at Andover seminary and was grad- 
uated therefrom in 1857. Then he 
went to China as chaplain of the Sea- 
man's Bethel at Canton. Returning 
home at the breaking out of the civil 
war he became chaplain of the famous 
Brooklyn regiment, principally raised 
by Plymouth church. At the close of 
the war he was mustered out with 
the brevet rank of brigadier-general. 
He had charge of Park church at El- 
mire while his brother, Thomas K. 
Beecher, was absent on a trip to 
South America. In May, 1867, he be- 
came pastor of the Owego church, re- 
maining here four years. He went 
from here in the spring of 1871 to 
Poughkeepsie, where he preached five 
years. In 1876 he purchased a farm 
containing a mile square of land in the 
town of Hardenberg, Ulster county, N. 
Y. High up in the hills and in the 
woods on the margin of a large lake, 
he built a house. He bought lumber 
and with a chest of tools built the 
house with his own hands, completing 
it alone. There he lived with his wife 
and adopted daughter. Sundays he 
preached to the backwoodsmen. His 
eccentricities became so marked that 
his brother. Rev. Thomas K. Beecher, 
believing that his mind was affected, 
prevailed upon him to voluntarily en- 
ter the state Homoeopathic asylum for 
the insane at Middletown, N. Y. He 
remained there a year and was after- 
ward from October, 1881, to August, 



604 
1882, in charge of the Bethel mission 
in Brooklyn, an adjunct of Plymouth 
church. He committed suicide at the 
Elmira water cure August 25, 1886, by 
shooting himself through the head 
with a rifle. 

Rev. Dwight W. Marsh was born at 
Dalton, Mass., Nov. 5, 1823. He was 
graduated from Williams college in 
1842, and studied theology at Andover 
seminary in 1842-3. He taught school 
in St. Louis, Mo., in 1843-1847. Then 
he resumed his studies at Union theo- 
logical seminary, graduating there- 
from in 1849. In December, 1849, after 
his ordination, he sailed from Boston 
to Mosul, Turkey, as a missionary. 
After his return to this country, in 
1860, he preached successively at 
Hinsdale, Mass., and Godfrey, 111. 
From 1862 to 1867 he was in charge of 
the young ladies' seminary at Roches- 
ter. In 1867 and 1868 he preached at 
Monticello, 111., and in 1869-71 at Whit- 
ney's Point. He came to Owego in 
Aug., 1871, and preached here nearly 
five years. In April, 1876, he went to 
Amherst, Mass., where he was pastor 
of the Congregational church until his 
death on June 19, 1896. 

Rev. William C. Schofield came to 
Owego from Salisbury, N. H., in the 
spring of 1877. He was pastor of the 
Congregational church from June of 
that year until October, 1880, when 
he resigned, with the understanding 
that he would consent to supply the 
pulpit for an indefinite period. 

Rev. Miles Gaylord Bullock came 
from Syracuse to Owego in April, 1881. 
He was originally a Methodist minis- 
ter, and an independent thinker. In 
1878-9 he preached a series of eight 
sermons while pastor of the M. E. 



605 
church at Oswego, to which sermons 
the Northern New York conference 
took some exceptions. He came to 
Syracuse and was admitted to Con- 
gregationalism at Plymouth church. 
He preached at that church dur- 
ing the temporary absence of the 
l)astor and while thus engaged 
received and accepted the call to 
Owego in April, 1881. He remained 
here five and one-half years, resigning 
his pastorate in October, 1886, for the 
Ijurpose of entering Yale college and 
in order to continue his studies in 
theology. Subsequently he lived at 
Ansonia, Conn. In the summer of 
1891, while living at Little Falls, N. Y., 
he went to Chicago to fill the pulpit of 
Rev. A. L. Smalley, who was away on 
nis summer vacation. While thus en- 
gaged he was stricken with heart dis- 
ease and died suddenly on July 27. 
He was about 45 years old at the time 
of his death. 

Rev. D. W. Teller came to Owego 
from Sherburne, N. Y., December, 
1888, and preached here five years. In 
August, 1893, he received a call to the 
First Presbyterian church at Fredonia. 
N. Y. He preached his farewell ser- 
mon at Owego on Sunday evening, 
Sept. 3, 1893, and the following Tues- 
day afternoon he was received into the 
Binghamton Presbytery as a member. 
He died at Fredonia March 23, 1894, 
aged 58 years. 

Rev. C. M. Bartholomew came from 
Niagara Falls in January, 1894, and 
has ever since been the pastor of this 
church — a longer period thus far than 
any of his predecessors in the pas- 
torate. He was born at Augusta, 
Oneida Co., N. Y., June 10, 1849; was 
graduated from Hamilton college in 



606 

1874, and from Auburn theological 
seminary in 1877. His first pastorate 
was at Rushville, N. Y., where he 
preached six years, from 1877 to 1883. 
From 1883 to 1885 he was pastor of 
the Congregational church at Reed 
Corners, N. Y., and from 1885 to 1894, 
at Niagara Falls. He came to Owego 
Jan. 1, 1894. 

The Congregational society did not 
own a parsonage until November, 1893, 
when it purchased of Joel A. Hamilton 
for $2,700 the house on the south side 
of Main street, the second house east 
of Academy street, which house it 
still owns. 



The Methodist Episcopal Church in 
the Days of the Circuit Preachers 
and Its History from Its Organiza- 
tion in 1816, together with Some Ac- 
count of Its Ministers and Its Meet- 
ing Houses. 

Dr. George Peck's "Early Method- 
ism," published in 1860, contains the 
diary of William Colbert, a circuit 
preacher, who on Nov. 6, 1792, was or- 
dained an elder at the general con- 
ference of the bishops, elders, and 
deacons of the M. E. church at Balti- 
more, Md., and appointed to fill the 
station of Wyoming and Tioga, Pa. 
His work was mostly in Bradford, 
Luzerne, Northumberland, Columbia, 
Tioga, and other counties in Pennsyl- 
vania, and he came into Chemung, 
Tompkins, and Tioga counties in New 
York. Tioga county. Pa., was then a 
dense wilderness. The only reference 
to Owego in this diary is under date 
of January 14, when he says he "re- 
ceived a letter from a man living at 
"Awaga," in which he was requested 
to come here and preach. He did not 



607 
preach here, but did come to Nichols 
the same month. A paragraph in his 
diary reads as follows: 

"Friday, 25. It was with difficulty 
that I got through the Narrows on ac- 
count of ice. I preachea at one Ben- 
nett's, near Mahontowango, with free- 
dom, on I. Cor. vi, 19-20. If any good is 
done, to God be the glory. These peo- 
ple are very willing to hear. This 
locality is now known as Nichols, 
where live the Shoemakers and 
Coryells, and has many years been 
famous for Methodism." 

Another reference to Owego is made 
in Mr. Colbert's diary in November, 
1793. He says: 

"Saturday, 23. I had a very cold 
night's lodging last night. I got very 
little sleep, so that I was obliged to 
rise early, especially as I had a long 
ride before me of more than thirty 
miles without an inhabitant [from the 
head of Cayuga lake, now Ithaca] to 
Andrew Alden's at Owaga [Owego] on 
the northeast branch of the Susque- 
hanna. I was fortunate in finding two 
fires on tne road this com morning." 

"Sunday, 24. Felt unwell last night, 
but through mercy was enabled to 
preach with a degree of life and power 
at Andrew Alden's." 

Andrew Alden lived at Tioga Cen- 
tre. He and his brother. Prince Alden, 
and Samuel and William Ransom were 
the first settlers there. They came 
from the Wyoming valley about the 
year 1785. Andrew Alden lived a short 
distance south of the mouth of Pipe 
creek in a log house, which is sup- 
posed to have been the first structure 
of the kind built in the town of Tioga. 
An interesting contribution to Mr. 
Peck's book, relating to the first ser- 
vices held at Owego by the Metho- 
dists, is made by Mrs. Fanny Thurs- 
ton, wife of David Thurston, who came 
here from Massachusetts about the 



year 1812 when she was 24 years of 
age. Mrs. Thurston was a daughter 
of David Darling, a Congregational 
minister of Keene, N. H. Mrs. Thurs- 
ton was a member of the first class 
formed here. She says: 

"The first Methodist preacher that 
preached in Owego was a Brother Fid- 
dler, in 1813; he preached once, and 
an objection being made by an old 
man, who said, 'We hain't go any 
Methodists about here, and for my 
part I don't want any,' he did not re- 
turn. There was no praying person in 
Owego at that time. Soon a local 
preacher, Hiram G. Warner, came in 
and kept the ferry; he soon joined the 
conference and travelled away from 
home. Brother E. Bibbins preached 
occasionally. About 1815 Brother .1. 
Griffing came. In 1816 there was a re- 
vival on the south side of the river, 
six were converted, and the first class 
formed, consisting of seven members: 
David and Fanny Thurston, Polly 
Warner, Abigail Thurston, Maria 
Thurston, her daughter, (now Mrs. 
Daniel Shoemaker,) David and Patty 
Darling. Brother J. Griffin formed the 
class and established regular preach- 
ing at the house of D. Thurston, who 
was ai)pointed leader and steward. 
Soon Brother Griffing sent a young 
man by the name of Scovell. Then a 
man by the name of Cole came a few 
times; next a Brother Doolittle in the 
same year. Brothers Griffing, Judd 
Bibbins, and Agard preached till the 
church was built. In those days our 
class was small and persecuted. Our 
meetings were neld in a little school 
house near the spot now occupied by 
the Methodist Episcopal church in 
Owego. The appointment was for 
Brother Doolittle to preach; when our 
l)eoi)le came to meeting the house was 
well lighted ui) with candles in large 
silver-plated candlesticks, and shortly 
a smart dashy E])iscopal minister, who 
had lately come into the place, came 
in preceded by a martial band, and 
putting his hat on the bass drum took 
nis place in the desk. After a while 



609 

Brother Doolittle arose and said tliat 
it was publicly known that this was 
the evening for a Methodist meeting, 
and we had feelings as well as other 
people, and he did not understand the 
present appearances. Mr. Camp came 
forward in defence of the Methodists. 
The B])iscopal minister read his cre- 
dentials, and proposed to preach first 
and have Brother Doolittle preach af- 
terward: he lu'eached and dismissed 
the congregation, and left with the 
band and his friends, after which 
Brother Doolittle preached and our 
people had a good meeting and got 
home about twelve o'clock. 

"On another occasion the school- 
master and others got up an exhibition 
with the representation of grotesque 
characters. The Methodists were 
coinpelled to remain and witness the 
performance or quit the ground: they 
remained and held meeting after the 
clowns had left. 

The last interruption of our meet- 
ing was the appointment of a writing 
school upon the evening of preaching. 
Brother Warner was to preach; the 
house was divided into two apart- 
ments by a swing partition. In the 
centre of the room usually occupied 
for preaching sat the writing master 
surrounded by twelve or fourteen lit- 
tle lads. Brother Warner asked him 
to retire, for it was public meeting 
night: he said he would not, for it was 
a public school. He said to Brother 
Warner: "Go on with your preaching 
and we will with our writing.' Brother 
Warner would not, but he and the con- 
gregation went into the little room. 
As soon as he began meeting the 
urchins would snap a rope that ran 
through both rooms, making a noise 
like the discharge of a pistol: then 
they would run and kick against the 
partition, but Brother Warner kept on 
praying. Then a troop would scamper 
out doors and set u]) a shout, when 
the master would raj) on the window 
and they would come tnundering in 
again; but some of the mothers of the 
boys were at meeting and carried 
home the news; the fathers were in- 
censed, and some of the boys were 



610 

punished. In the morning Brother 
Warner went to Judge Burrows to get 
a warrant for the schoolmaster. The 
judge went with Brother Warner to 
see the young man, who confessed 
that he was urged on by others and 
promised to do so no more, so he was 
released. Since that time the Metho- 
dists have worshipped in peace." 

In the "Thurston Genealogies," page 
72, Mrs. Thurston's daughter, Mary 
Almeda (Mrs. Anson Garrison) says 
of her parents: 

"He and my mother were among the 
seven united to form the first Metho- 
dist church in Owego. My mother 
was a superior woman, endowed with 
a superior mind, and through her early 
advantages were limited yet amid all 
her cares she never ceased her efforts 
for improvement by reading, writing, 
etc., and her poetry frequently graced 
the village newspapers." 

Hiram G. Warner, mentioned by 
Mrs. Thurston, conducted a licensed 
ferry across the river. His ferry house 
was on the south side of Front street, 
a little east of Paige street. This was 
before the first bridge was built across 
the river in this village. The boat 
was poled across the river, and it also 
had oars. A rope was afterward 
strung over the river, which rope 
sagged nearly to the water, and the 
boat was fastened thereto by smaller 
ropes and pulleys, which pulleys ran 
on the large rope, and the boat was 
carried across by the current. David 
Darling, brother-in-law of David Thurs- 
ton, tended the ferry in 1823. In 1826 
Mr. Warner was a licensed preacher 
on the Spencer circuit. 

Rev. John GrifRng came to Berk- 
shire from Guilford, Conn. His father, 
Joseph GrifRng, was a master mariner. 
Rev. John GrifRng was a preacher on 
the Candor circuit. He purchased a 



611 
farm on the west bank of the Susque- 
hanna river, below Owego, where he 
lived. 

Rev. Horace Agard was a man of 
more than ordinary ability. He was 
received on trial in the Genesee con- 
ference in 1819 and preached nineteen 
years. He was eleven years presiding 
elder. He was sent on this circuit in 
1824. The next year he purchased a 
few acres of land below Hooper's Val- 
ley, in the town of Nichols, and settled 
there with his family. He was com- 
pelled to abandon active work in 1838, 
on account of ill health. He died 
there in 1840. William F. Warner 
says of Mr. Agard: 

"Rev. Horace Agard in his day 
was almost as widely known as the 
late Rev. Peter Cartwright. He was 
not, however, notable for any eccen- 
tricities, but rather for ixis dignified 
character and solid worth as a man 
and minister of the church in which he 
was a leader for many years." 

The Methodist congregation held its 
meetings in the old Main street school 
house until 1821. March 21 of that 
year James Pumpelly deeded to the 
M. E. society thirteen square rods of 
land at the southeast corner of Main 
and Academy streets for $100, to be 
the property of the society so long as 
it should be occupied for church pur- 
poses, and to revert to Mr. Pumpelly 
or his heirs when it should cease to 
be so occupied. 

The framework of the church was 
erected in the fall of 1821, but it was 
not enclosed and completed until the 
next year. It was a large church 
painted white, and similar to all the 
country churches built at that time. 
The front was on Academy street, 
which street had been known as Mc- 



612 

Master street until this time, when 
the name of the street was changed to 
Chapel street, the edifice being com- 
monly known as the Methodist chapel. 
In those days all the other churches 
were known as meeting houses. 

The high pulpit was between the 
two doors at the entrance of the build- 
ing, and people coming in faced the 
congregation. In September, 1855, re- 
pairs were made to the church and 
changes made. The pulpit was re- 
moved from between the entrance 
doors at the west end of the church 
to the east end, and the choir placed 
where the pulpit had been. The floor 
was lowered, so that the high steps 
outside were removed, and a new 
portico was added. The pews, which 
had faced to the west, were turned to 
face to the east, where the pulpit had 
been placed. A new spire was raised 
on the church. It was 116 feet high 
from the level of the street and was 
the highest one in Owego. These im- 
l)rovements cost $3,000. 

The church as reconstructed was 
dedicated Jan. 9, 1856. by Rev. Jesse 
T. Peck, of New York city. The church 
was occupied forty-eight years. The 
congregation had so greatly increased 
in 1866, that it was decided by the 
trustees to build a new and larger 
church on some more central location. 

April 16, 1868, the M. E. society pur- 
chased of Dr. Theodore S. Armstrong 
the lot on the north side of Main 
street, east of Spencer avenue, for 
$3,750, but did not build thereon until 
two years afterward. The present 
brick church, as shown in the engrav- 
ing, was built on a contract for 
$35,000 by Jonathan S. Houk and Al- 
bert Harrison Keeler, of Owego. The 




THE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



614 

work on the foundation was begun in 
April, 1870, and the basement story 
walls were completed in June. The 
corner stone was laid by Rev. H. 
Wheeler in the afternoon of June 22, 
and the address was delivered by 
Rev. Dr. Love, of Auburn, editor of 
the Northern Christian Advocate. 

The arches over the doorways were 
the first stone ones ever built in Owe- 
go. In December the building had 
been enclosed for the winter and the 
slate roof finished. The next spring 
the steeple was erected. It is 155 feet 
high and 30 feet higher than the 
steeple of any other church in the vil- 
lage. 

The new church was dedicated Wed- 
nesday morning, Dec. 20, 1871. Rev. 
Dr. Jesse T. Peck, of Syracuse, 
preached the sermon. In the evening 
Rev. B. I. Ives, of Auburn, preached. 
At the two services $25,000,the 
balance required for building the new 
church, was pledged by the congrega- 
tion. 

The old church building was sold to 
Charles A. Ward for $500. It after- 
ward passed through the ownership of 
various persons and finally became 
the property of James Hill, who tore it 
down and used the material in the con- 
struction of other buildings. 

In the fall of 1875 A. H. Keeler 
made a contract wi*^h tne trustees to 
build an extension co the back part of 
the new church, to be four feet deep, 
seventeen feet long, and forty feet 
high, to give more room for the pulpit 
and organ. In the winter of 1885-6 the 
ceiling was lowered several feet and a 
new steel ceiling was put in. 

The first parsonage of the M. E. 
church was in McMaster street. . It 



615 
still stands on the west side of that 
street, and is the first house south of 
the Champion wagon worlds. Aug. 15, 
1840, James Pumpelly sold the lot to 
the society for $200 and built the par- 
sonage thereon. June 5, 1871, the 
property was sold for $3,000 to Mrs. 
Hannah A. Kingsley. On April 1, 
1893, the society purchased of Mrs. 
Catherine B. Deming for $3,000 its 
present parsonage on the south side of 
Main street. It is the second house 
west of Paige street and was built in 
1849 by Timothy P. Patch. It was af- 
terward owned and occupied several 
years by James Bisliop. 

The pastors of the church since its 
organization have been as follows: 

Rev. William Brown, 1816. 

Rev. Ebenezer Doolittle, 1817. 

Rev. Hiram G. Warner, 1818. 

Rev. Horace Agard, 1822. 

Rev. John D. Gilbert, 1823. 

Rev. Chester V. Adgate, 1824. 

Rev. Josiah Keyes, 1825-6. 

Rev. Joseph Castle, 1827. 

Rev. David A. Shepard, 1828-9. 

Rev. John Griffing, 1830. 

Rev. Sylvester Minier, 1831. 

Rev. Morgan Sherman, 1832. 

Rev. Marmaduke Pearce, 1833. 

Rev. L. Mumford, 1834-5. 

Rev. D. Holmes, Jr., 1836-7. 

Revs. L. Hitchcock and John Grif- 
fing, 1838. 

Revs. Robert Fox and John Griffing, 
1839. 

Rev. Robert Fox, 1840. 

Rev. A. J. Crandall, 1841-2. 

Rev. Freeman H. Stanton, 1843-44. 

Rev. William Reddy, 1845. 

Rev. William H. Peame, 1846-7. 

Rev. A. J. Dana, 184S-9. 

Rev. Thomas H. Pearne, 1850. 

Rev. J. M. Snyder, 1851. 

Rev. George P. Porter, 1852-3. 

Rev. George H. Blakeslee, 1854-5. 

Rev. B. W. Gorham, 1856-7. 

Rev. John J. Pearce, 1858. 

Rev. George M. Peck, 1859. 



616 

Rev. S. W. Weiss, 1860. 
Rev. George P. Porter, lS6x-2. 
Rev. David A. Shepard, 1863. 
Rev. E. R. Keyes, 1864. 
Rev. William B. Westlake, 1865-7. 
Rev. Henry E. Wheeler, 1868-70. 
Rev. William Bixby, 1871-2. 
Rev. James O. Woodruff, 1873-5. 
Rev. Almus D. Alexander, 1876-8. 
Rev. E. W. Caswell, 1879-81. 
Rev. G. W. Miller, 18S2-3. 
Rev. George Forsvth, 1S84-6. 
Rev. William M. Hiller, 1887-8. 
Rev. Phineas R. Hawxhurst, 1889-91. 
Rev. Justus F. Warner, 1892-4. 
Rev. Moses D. Fuller, 1895-9. 
Rev. William Edgar, 1900-1. 
Rev. Haskell B. Benedict, 1901-3. 
Rev. Amasa F. Chaffee, 1904-5. 
Rev. John B. Cook, 1905-7. 
Rev. Benjamin Copeland, 1907. 
Rev. Louis D. Palmer, 1907- 

Of these pastors thirteen have been 
presiding elders, as follows: Horace 
Agard, D. A. Shepard, Wm. Reddy, 
W. H. Pearne, A. J. Dana, J. M. Sny- 
der, Geo. P. Porter, H. E. Wheeler, 
William Bixby, J. O. Woodruff, Geo. 
Forsyth, J. F. Waraer, and M. D. 
Fuller. 

Two of the ablest of these clergy- 
men, and the most erratic, were Will- 
iam H. Pearne and George P. Porter. 
Mr. Pearne was in the ministry about 
fifty years. He was presiding elder of 
Owego district from 1852 to 1855. At 
one time he was pastor of the leading 
church in New Orleans, La. After the 
civil war he was provobt marshal at 
Nashville, Tenn., and later pastor 
of the State street church and after- 
ward of the Clinton avenue church in 
Trenton, N. J., the most important 
church in the New Jersey conference. 
He died at Homer, N .Y., Nov. 17, 1890, 
aged 74 years. 

Geo. P. Porter was born at Berwick, 
Pa., in 1720. In early life he was a civil 



617 

engineer, and later a portrait painter. 
He was a pupil of John Sartain, of 
Philadelphia, who was famous as a 
mezzotint engraver. In 1843 he opened 
a studio at Towanda, Pa. He soon 
abandoned his work as a painter and 
entered the ministry. In 1848, he was 
assigned to the charge at Montrose 
and Great Bend, Pa. In 1851 he was 
pastor of the Court street church at 
Binghamton and the next two years 
he preached at Owego. He was sent 
to Waverly in 1854. He became in- 
temperate and the next year he lapsed 
into infidelity and withdrew from the 
membership of the church. For a 
short time he was editor of the Wa- 
verly Advocate. In 1861 he again en- 
tered the ministry, and that year and 
in 1862 he was again pastor of the 
Owego church. From 1863 to 1866 he 
was presiding elder of the Owego dis- 
trict and in 1867 of the Wyoming dis- 
trict. In 1868 and 1869 he was pastor 
of Grace church at Buffalo and in 1870 
he became presiding elder of the 
Genesee district. In 1872 he preached 
at tne Elm Park church at Scran ton. 
Pa., and the next year he was placed 
on the superannuated list. He died at 
Cowlesville, Wyoming Co., N. Y., .lune 
11, 1877. 



A History of the First Baptist Church, 
Its Meeting Houses and Its Pastors, 
with Some Account of the Old Town 
Clock, the Only Town Clock ever 
Seen in This Village. 
The "First Baptist Church of Owe- 
go," the second church organized in 
this village, was organized Septem- 
ber 20, 1831, by thirteen men and 
seventeen women, among whom were 
James Clark, Abner Brooks, Asa 



6IS 

Woolverton, Latham A. Buitows, Na- 
thaniel Spencer, Asa Dearborn, Asa 
H. Truman, Ebenezer Daniels, and 
Asa Root. The church was organized 
in Daniel Chamberlain's dwelling 
house, which stood on the west side of 
Park street. 

Mr. Chamberlain was a wagon 
maker. His shop stood where the 
Congregational church now stands. 
His house was south of it. The house 
was later owned by Miss E. H. Bates, 
M. D., and was burned Dec. 3, 1877, in 
the fire which broke out in and burned 
the first Congregational church edifice. 

The organization was effected by 
delegates from the Baptist churches 
at Berkshire, Spencer, and Caroline. 
At this meeting a committee was ap- 
pointed to obtain a place for worship 
and to find a site for a meeting house. 
The committee subsequently reported 
that it had hired Mr. Chamberlain's 
wagon shop for six months for $15 and 
that it had looked for a site for a 
meeting house, but had been unable to 
find one. 

William P. Stone, a member of the 
society, in a newspaper article written 
in 1882, said that none of the consti- 
tuent members of the new church 
lived nearer than two miles, and most 
of them not less than five miles dis- 
tant. They were poor and without in- 
fluence, with a total valuation of less 
than $5,000; some working lands on 
shares, others laboring to hew a home 
out of the wilderness. 

The preacher's desk in the wagon 
shop was a box placed on a work 
bench, and the congregation was 
seated on benches made of pine slabs, 
the flat side up, supported by wooden 



619 

legs inserted into two-inch auger 
holes. 

Services were held in this shop 
a few weeks when the weather be- 
came cold and there was no way to 
heat the shop. In November, 1831, 
application was made to the board of 
supervisors of Tioga county for per- 
mission to occupy the court room at 
the court house as a place of worshi]), 
which was granted, with the provision 
that the church should furnish its own 
fuel for heating the room and also 
give a bond in the sum of $5,000 that 
the building should be properly cared 
for during their occupancy of it. 
When the members of the congrega- 
tion gathered at the court house on 
the next Sunday, however, they found 
the door locked and the under-sheriff, 
who had charge of the building, was 
not to be found. He was a member 
of another church, and it was charged 
that he had gone away purposely, so 
that the court house could not be oc- 
cupied for religious services. 

Not disheartened by this rebuff, the 
society made an arrangement with 
Friendship lodge of Free Masons to 
occupy its lodge room, which was on 
the third floor of James and Wm. A. 
Ely's brick building on the south side 
of Front street, which stood where F. 
M. Baker & Son's hardware store now 
stands. It was in this lodge room that 
the fire which destroyed the entire 
business section of the village broke 
out in September, 1849. 

The first pastor of the church was 
Rev. Samuel W. Ford, who was en- 
gaged on April 14, 1832, to preach for 
a term of one year, his compensation 
to be $300. 

The first settled pastor of the 



620 

church was James R. Burdick, a grad- 
uate of Brown university, who ass- 
umed charge June 12, 1833. His salary 
was only $300 a year, one-half of 
which was paid by the society and the 
other half by the Baptist state con- 
vention. In addition to this his house 
rent and firewood were furnished by 
the society. 

The society increased in numbers 
and steps were soon taken to build a 
meeting house. At a church meeting 
on Feb. 8, 1834, the deacons were au- 
thorized to raise money by subscrii> 
tion and build a church as soon as pos- 
sible. The money was raised and the 
church was built that year at the 
southeast corner of Main and Church 
streets on land which Charles Pum- 
pelly sold to the society for $275. The 
lot had a frontage of 53 feet on Main 
street and 60 feet on Church street. 
The lot was afterward enlarged by 
the purchased of additional ground. 

The new meeting house stood close 
to Main street. It was io by 60 feet 
in size and occupied nearly all the lot. 
The pulpit was at the south end. A 
gallery, supported by large wooden 
posts, extended around the west, north 
and east sides, and the choir was 
stationed in the north end of the gal- 
lery. 

The meeting house was dedicated 
Jan. 8, 1835, and was occupied as a 
l)lace of worship twenty years. The 
dedication sermon was preached by 
Rev. Mr. Corwin. 

The Old Town Clock. 

In the steeple of this meeting house 
was placed the first and only town 
clock ever seen at Owego. It was the 
invention of Charles Frederick John- 



621 

son, of the town of Tioga, and was 
constructed by him and John J. Speed, 
of Ithaca. May 22, 1846, a contract 
was made between Mr. Johnson and 
Joel L. Pinney, clerk of the board of 
trustees of the church, in which con- 
sent was given to Mr. Johnson to put 
the town clock in their meeting house 
at nis own expense and keep it there 
three months on trial. If the clock 
should not keep accurate time, Mr. 
Johnson was to remove it and put the 
building in as good order as before; 
if the clock should keep accurate time 
Mr. Johnson was to remove it or let it 
remain, at his option. 

The clock was put into the steeple 
accordingly and was in running order 
in the following September. It had 
four dials and was run by huge 
weights. It was arranged with a strik- 
ing apparatus and the hours were 
struck upon the church bell. 

No provision had been made by the 
village to purchase it, nor did it, in 
some respects, give satisfaction. 
Johnson & Speed, in May, 1847, made 
some alterations in it, to ensure it 
keeping better time and offered to 
sell it to the village for $200, which 
amount was also to cover the cost of 
the dials and the expense of winding 
it, up to that time, at the same time 
engaging to keep it in good order for 
two years. The price was about one- 
half that of an ordinary town clock. 

At the time of the annual election 
for village officers, June 7, 1847, John- 
son & Speed's communication was 
read and it was voted to pay them 
1200, provided a larger dial was put 
on and painted black with the hands 
and hours in gilt letters. Mr. Johnson 
agreed to comply with the terms stipu- 



622 

lated and also agreed to have the new- 
dial and hands m place within six 
weeks, which was done accordingly. 

Wakeley Spencer was employed to 
wind, oil, and keep the clock in order 
when it was first put up, and he was 
paid at the rate of $10 a year. The 
second year the village trustees de- 
cided to let it to the lowest bidder and 
it was given to William Manning at 
the same price. Mr. Spencer was the 
sexton of the church and his bid was 
$25. The result was that the church 
trustees would allow no one but Mr. 
Spencer to go into the building for 
the purpose of winding the clock, giv- 
ing as a reason that the clock inter- 
fered with the ringing of the bell and 
made it much harder to ring. 

At the same time a petition, signed 
by about seventy of the leading citizens 
was presented to the village trustees, 
praying that the clock might be re- 
moved to some place where access 
might be had to it for the purpose of 
winding it. No action was taken, but 
Mr. Spencer continued to wind the 
clock and was paid at the rate of $15 
a year. The clock was wound subse- 
quently by Hiram Ferguson and after- 
ward by Thomas Williams. 

In February, 1849, the clock got out 
of order and Johnson & S])eed were 
notified to repair it. The church bell 
was also cracked by the striking ap- 
paratus. At the annual election for 
village officers on the 4th of the fol- 
lowing June, resolutions were adopted 
directing the trustees to remove the 
clock unless they could have access 
to the building, to wind and repair it, 
and authorizing them to appropriate 
$100 toward purchasing a new bell, 
provided that on examination it should 



623 

be found that the clock was the cause 
of the breaking of the bell. 

October 6, 1856, a communication 
was received from the Baptist society 
calling attention to the necessity of 
removing the town clock, as the meet- 
ing house was to be removed and a 
new church built in its place. The 
street commissioner was accordingly 
directed by the trustees to take down 
the clock and take charge of it. The 
clock was taken to Mr. Johnson's 
house and was never again used. 

The church was altered and re- 
paired in February, 1842. A one-story 
building for a conference room was 
built in Church street, south of the 
church, in the spring of 18'i4, at a cost 
of $300, with money raised by sub- 
scription. It was built by Ambrose 
Townsend, a member of the society. 

The society continued to prosper 
and the congregation increased in 
number so that in 1856 it was decided 
to tear down or sell the meeting 
house and build a larger one of brick 
in its place. The old building was 
sold to Ezra Canfield, who removed it 
to the lot where Gen. I. B. Ogden's 
cabinet shop haa been burned on the 
north side of Main street, opposite the 
present Owego hotel. The gallery 
was extended over the whole building 
and the second floor thus made was 
usea as a public hall. 

The attempt to move the meeting 
house was a failure at first. The con- 
tractor succeeded in moving it on 
rollers into Main street, but could get 
it no further than a little west of 
Church street, where it stood several 
days, blocking the street. Then R. H. 
Hall, a member of the congregation, 
who had a patent stump puller, under- 



624 

took to finish the work and did so with 
his machine. 

William P. Raymond in March 1866, 
purchased the building and converted 
a portion of it into a meat market. 
.John Phelps had a tin shop in part of 
it, and another part was occupied as a 
carpenter shop by Wm. H. Perry and 
Albert Robertson. The part back of 
their places of business was rented as 
living rooms. In the night of Satur- 
day, Dec. 13, 1868, a fire broke out in 
the building, burning it to the ground, 
together with another wooden build- 
ing adjoining it. 

The new Baptist church was built 
by James A. Dean. Its construction 
was begun in December, 1856, and the 
foundation was laid the next April. It 
was finished in December and dedi- 
cated January 14, 1858. Rev. William 
H. King, the pastor of the church, 
l)reached the dedication sermon in the 
forenoon on the rise and progress of 
the church since its organization, and 
in the evening Rev. A. H. Burlingham, 
a former pastor, preached. 

The new church cost $16,000. Be- 
fore its construction, the vacant 
ground east of the church lot was pur- 
chased for $515, in the summer of 
1851. 

The two towers at the comers of 
the church at the north end were con- 
sidered ungainly, and in 1869 it was 
decided to replace them with others 
that would be more in harmony with 
modern architecture. The work was 
done in the spring of 1870, the mason 
work by J. S. Houk and A. H. Keeler, 
and the carpenter work by Jas. A. 
Dean and Miles P. Howes. The north 
wall and the greater part of the west 
wall were taken down and a portion 








w.vy(>- -; i 




THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 



626 

of the building was extended out 
toward Church street to make an al- 
cove for the organ and choir. One of 
the towers was converted into a 
handsome steeple and the other into 
a tower of modern shape. The build- 
ing was covered with a slate roof. A 
baptismal pool was constructed back 
of the pulpit, separated therefrom by 
sliding doors. The interior of the 
church was handsomely frescoed. 

Attached to the church at the south 
end was built a large brick addition 
for a conference room two stories 
high. In the back part are a ladies' 
parlor and other rooms. In the second 
story are the Sunday school rooms. 
The cost of the entire work was be- 
tween $15,000 and $20,000. 

The reconstructed edifice was dedi- 
cated March 16, 1871. Rev. Dr. E. 
E>odge, president of Madison univer- 
sity, preaching the dedication sermon. 

In the summer of 1896 the church 
was again remodeled. The level floor 
was removed and a new sloping floor 
built in its place, which is three feet 
higher at the entrance to the building 
than at the altar. The pews were 
made of semi-circular form. The work 
was done by contract by Lucius Ford 
and the improvements cost about 
$4,500. 

May 1, 1863, the Baptist society pur- 
chased of David Mersereau for $500 
the house and lot east of and adjoin- 
ing the church grounds, and the house 
has ever since been occupied by the 
pastor of the church as a parsonage. 

The pastors of the Baptist church 
have been as follows: 

Rev. Samuel W. Ford, April, 1832- 
June, 1833. 

Rev. James R. Burdick, June 12, 
1833-June 10, 1836. 



627 

Rev. Alonzo Wheelock, March 1837- 
1838. 

Rev. Philetus B. Peck, March, 1838- 
August, 1847. 

Rev. Beaven, lS47-March 

1848. 

Rev. Albert L. Post, June, 1848-June, 
1849. 

Rev. James H. Pratt, Sept. 1, 1849- 
Jan., 1850. 

Rev. Charles Morton, March 11, 
1850-Dec. 29, 1850. 

Rev. Aaron H. Burlingham, March, 
1851-September, 1852. 

Rev. J. M. Cooley, 1853-1854- 
Rev. William H. King, June, 1854- 
27 March, 1881. 

Rev. Latham A. Crandall, May 22, 
ISSl-Sept, 1, 1884. 

Rev. Reuben E. Burton, Dec. 27, 
1884-Feb. 20, 1889- 

Rev. W. A. Granger, July, 1889-June 
29, 1894. 

Rev. Milton F. Negus, October, 1894- 
Aug. 31, 1897. 

Rev. Peter B. Guernsey, September, 
1897-October 1, 1899. 

Rev. Riley A. Vose, October, 1899- 
James R. Burdick, the first pastor 
of this church, was a graduate of 
Brown university. He came to Owego 
from Ithaca. In June, 1836, he re- 
signed his pastorate and removed to 
Lisle, Broome county. 

After the departure of Mr. Burdick, 
Rev. H.G.Chase preached a few weeks, 
but in August, 1836, declined the pas- 
torate, which was tendered to him. 
Mr. Wheelock began his pastorate in 
March, 1837, and preached his farewell 
sermon Feb. 25, 1838. 

Rev. Philetus B. Peck was born at 
New Woodstock, Madison county, N. 
Y., in 1809. He was educated for the 
ministry at Hamilton college. He died 
October 6, 1847, while on a visit to 
his birthplace in Madison county. 

Mr. Peck was one of the pioneers in 
the anti-slavery movement, and in 



62S 

those days the abolitionists were very 
unpopular with the people. Having 
the courage of his convictions, Mr. 
Peck at the outset of his pastorate 
preached a sermon in which he made 
an attack upon slavery, which so in- 
censed some of his hearers that at its 
close he was asked by the deacons to 
meet them and some of the older 
members of the church in the vestry. 
He was there informed that his senti- 
ments on this question were distaste- 
ful to them and that the matter of 
slavery should not be referred to again 
by him in the pulpit. Mr. Peck re- 
l)]ied that he should be discreet, but 
snould never compromise his convic- 
tions, and would denounce the sin of 
slavery whenever he should deem it 
wise to do so. His defence of his 
course was so strongly made that it 
was finally decided that he should be 
allowed to act upon his own convic- 
tions. 

In December, 1839, Mr. Peck pur- 
chased of J. L. Pinney a lot on the 
north side of main street, nearly op- 
posite Ross street, where he built a 
house, in which he lived during the 
rest of his life and which was occu- 
pied by his family after his death. 

In March, 1897, a sermon in memory 
of Mr. Peck was preached by Rev. M. 
F. Negus, when two circular granite 
tablets, each 18 ncnes in diameter, on 
the south wall of the church were un- 
veiled. On one tablet in carved let- 
ters, gilded, are the words: "In loving 
memory of Rev. Philetus B. Peck, our 
Pastor. 1838-1847." On the other 
tablet is the following inscription: 
"In loving memory of Rev. William 
Harvev King, D. D., our pastor. isr)4- 
1881. 



629 
For many years a white marble 
■monument stood in the northeastern 
part of the church yard, which monu- 
ment was placed there in Mr. Peck's 
memory. It bears the following in- 
scription: "In memory of Rev. Phile- 
tus B. Peck, late pastor of the First 
Baptist church in Owego, who died 
Oct. 6, 1S47, aged 38 years. His last 
words were. The will of the Lord be 
done; the will of the Lord be done,' 
and then fell asleep in .lesus, blessed 
sleep, from which none ever wake to 
weep. This monument was erected 
by the young ladies and gentlemen 
and Sabbath school scholars of the 
Baptist church and society in Owego 
in memory of their beloved pastor and 
Sabbath school superintendent." Soon 
after the unveiling of the tablet in Mr. 
Peck's memory inside the church the 
monument was removed to Evergreen 
cemetery. 
William F. Warner says of Mr. Peck: 
"He was one of the leading clergy- 
men of his denomination and a 
natural leader of the people, one who 
exerted an influence, not only through- 
out his own particular congregation 
but throughout the town and county. 
He was also a prominent man in the 
councils of the Baptist denomniation. 
He was a man of judgment and discre- 
tion, and possessed the love and re- 
spect of all. His death was felt as a 
public loss, and his memory is 
cherished by all who knew him." 

After Mr. Peck's death there was 
for a few months no settled pastor. 
Revs. Jabez Swan and John Peck, 
father of P. B. Peck, preached untU 
Mr. Bevan came in the winter of 1847- 
8. Mr. Bevan resigned his pastorate 
in March, 1848. 

Mr. Post preached a year in 1848-9. 
Mr. Pratt was pastor only four 



630 

months. In January, 1850, he resigned 
on account of ill health. Mr. Morton " 
preached only seven months. He 
came here from Newark, N. J. 

Rev. Aaron H. Burlingham was a 
man of great ability. He came here 
from Pittsburgh, Pa. He resigned his 
pastorate to accept a call from Bos- 
ton, Mass. He died March 1, 1905, at 
Mount Vernon, N. Y., aged 83 years. 

Rev. William H. King, a self-edu- 
cated man, a scholar, and one of the 




REV. WILLIAM H. KING, 
ablest of all the pastors of this church, 
was born Oct. 8, 1820, in the town of 
Otsego, Otsego county, N. Y. His 
father died when he was nine years 
old and six years later he came to live 
with his brother, a lumberman and 
farmer on Shepard's creek, two miles 
north of Factoryville, now east Wa- 
verly. Here, when not engaged at 
work for his brother, he studied Latin. 



631 

Greek, Hebrew, and French. From 
1843 to 1848 he taught school at Wa- 
verly, and while thus engaged began 
preaching. In 1849 he was ordained 
to the ministry at Athens, Pa., and 
assumed the pastorate of the Baptist 
church there. He came to Owego in 
March, 1854, and was pastor of the 
Baptist church here 27 years, when he 
resigned his pastorate on account of 
ill health. He was a profound student, 
a deep thinl^er, and a sound reasoner. 
As a recreation he studied medicine, 
but did not practise. He preached 
against slavery and for temperance, 
and was a vigorous supporter of the 
government during the civil war. He 
was interested in local public affairs 
and was one of the trustees of the old 
Owego academy and when the schools 
were consolidated under the union 
school law in 1864 he was elected a 
member of the board of school com- 
missioners and was twice re-elected. 
He was broad in his views, firm in his 
beliefs, and always fearless in express- 
ing them. 

Rev. L. A. Crandall was a graduate 
of Hillsdale college, Michigan. He 
was graduated from the Rochester 
theological seminary May 18, 1881, and 
came at once to Owego. In July, 1884, 
he resigned his pastorate and became 
pastor of the Twenty-third Street Bap- 
tist church in New York city. In 
February, 1889, he went to Cleveland, 
Ohio, having accepted a call to the 
Euclid Avenue Baptist church. 

Rev. R. E. Burton came to Owego 
from Buffalo. He was opposed to 
dancing and card playing, and "having 
the courage of his convictions" he 
condemned them in his sermons. 
Some of the members of his congrega- 



632 

tion took offence at his course, and as 
a disposition was manifested to re- 
duce his salary, in order to compel him 
to resign, he did resign. This was in 
February, 1887. The opposition to his 
leaving, however, was so great that 
he afterward acceded to the request 
of a committee and withdrew his resig- 
nation. In 1889 he resigned his pas- 
torate and became pastor of the Dela- 
ware Street Baptist church in Syra- 
cuse. 

Rev. W. A. Granger resigned his 
pastorate here in June, 1894, to accept 
a call to the Baptist church at Mount 
Vernon, N. Y., with a larger salary. 
He was pastor of that church until 
April 16, 1908, when he preached his 
farewell sermon, having resigned to 
take the presidency of the Baptist mis- 
sionary convention of the state of New 
York. 

Rev. Milton F. Negus came from 
Minneapolis, Minn., in August, 1894, to 
accept the pastorate of this church, 
and began his duties on the first Sun- 
day in October. In May, 1897, he re- 
ceived a call to the First Baptist 
church of Brooklyn and assumed the 
pastorate there on Sept. 1. Mr. Negus 
is a son of Rev. C. R. Negus, who was 
for forty years a successful pastor in 
central New York. He was educated 
at Colgate university and Rochester 
theological seminary, graduating from 
the latter institution in 1887. He was 
at once called to the pastorate of the 
Fourth Baptist church of Minneapolis, 
Minn., where he remained seven years 
and until he came to Owego. 

After having filled the pastorate of 
the Owego church two years. Rev. P. 
B. Guernsey resigned in September, 
1899, to take the iiresidency of Roger 



633 
Williams university at Nasliville, 
Tenn., a college which prepares young 
colored men for the ministry imder 
control of the Boston home mission 
society. Before coming to Owego Mr. 
Guernsey was a teacher in Cook acad- 
emy at Montour Falls and was later 
in the railroad business at Elmira. He 
prepared himself for the ministry and 
he and his wife went as missionaries 
to India. A few years ago the univer- 
sity building at Nashville was burned 
and was not rebuilt. Since that time 
Mr. Guernsey has been engaged in 
mission work in New York city. 

Rev. Riley A. Vose, the present pas- 
tor was born at Spencer in this county 
.June 21, 1859. He was graduated from 
Colgate academy in 1881, from Madi- 
son university in 1885, and from Ham- 
ilton theological seminary in 1887. 
His first pastorate was that of the 
Baptist church at Madison, N. Y., 
where he remained from .Tan. 1, 1888, 
to June 1, when he was called to the 
pastorate of the Albany Avenue Bap- 
tist church at Kingston, N. Y., and 
preached there two and one-half year?. 
.January 1, 1892, he assumed the pas- 
torate of the Tabernacle Baptist 
church at Utica. He remained there 
nearly four years. In October, 1895, 
he became pastor of the North Avenue 
Baptist church at Cambridge, Mass., 
and preached there until May, 1889, 
when he resigned on account of ill 
health and went to Europe to recuper- 
ate. At a farewell reception given to 
Mr. and Mrs. Vose the congregation 
presented to them a purse of $1,500. 
Upon his return, his health having im- 
proved, he accepted a call to the Owe- 
go church and began his duties here 
in October, 1899. 



634 

A History of St. Paul s Episcopaf 
Church from Its Organization in 
1834 to the Present Time, with 
Some Account of the Church Edi- 
fices and the Rectors of the Church. 

The third church organized at Owe- 
go was St. Paul's Episcopal church, 
which was organized Feb. 10, 1834, by 
Rev. James D. Carder, who came from 
Ithaca for that purpose. The name of 
the organization was "The Rector, 
Churchwardens, and Vestrymen of St.- 
Paul's Church in the village of Owe- 
go." John Watson and Thomas Far- 
rington were chosen wardens and Dr. 
Jedediah Fay, Col. Samuel Rockwood, 
Charles C. Noble, George Bacon, Har- 
mon Pumpelly, John Rowland, Robert 
Charles Johnson, and Sheldon Osborne 
vestrymen. At this time there were 
only three communicants, Mrs. Gad 
Worthington, Mrs. Samuel Rockwood, 
and Mrs. Hyde. Church services were 
held at the old Presbyterian session 
house, or lecture room as it was then 
called, on the east side of Court street. 

In November, 1833, Mr. Carder, who 
was rector of St. John's church at 
Ithaca, wrote to Mr. Fanington saying 
that he expected to have a leisure 
Sunday after Thanksgiving day and 
that if it should be the general wish of 
those concerned, he would render 
some service in organizing a parish 
here during the fall or winter. Mr. 
Carder came here later and organized 
the church. He preached here every 
other week a few months.driving over 
from Ithaca for that purpose. In May, 
1834, owing to ill health, he left Ithaca 
to spend the summer on the Atlantic 
coast. 

Rev. Dr. Carder came to Ithaca in 



635 
1831. When he left there, hi 1834, he 
went to Connecticut. He was after- 
ward appomted secretary of the Epis- 
copal Board of Foreign Missions, and 
held that position at the time of his 
death, about the year 1867. 

Rev. Ezekiel G. Gear, who succeeded 
Mr. Carder as rector of St. John's 
church at Ithaca, held church services 
at Owego, beginning in March, 183-5. 
Mr. Gear was the second rector of St.- 
.John's church, preaching there from 
1823 to 1828, and again from 1834 to 
1836. He went from Ithaca to the 
west as a pioneer missionary. 

Rev. John Baily, who was then a 
deacon, was the first settled clergy- 
man of St. Paul's church. He first 
came here in the fall of 1837 and held 
services every other week at the Pres- 
byterian session house during the win- 
ter. He also held services at Candor 
and Richford. He was regularly called 
to the pastorate of St. Paul's in March, 
1838. Church services were now held 
at the court house. Mr. Baily was 
ordained to the priesthood in April. 
He remained as rector of the church 
three years. In February, 1841, Mr. 
Baily, who for a year had been pre- 
vented by ill health from conducting 
services, resigned the pastorate, say- 
ing that on account of his health he 
could not continue his duties in the 
ministry. He afterward lived at 
Fayetteville, N. Y., where he died a 
few years ago. 

In 1839 the society built its first 
church. The ground on which it was 
erected was owned by James Pum- 
pelly, and was the same land on the 
south side of Main street where the 
rectory now stands. This was a part 
of the Pumpelly orchard, and was 



636 
deeded to the society April, 14, 1840." 
Mr. Pumpelly gave the society the use 
of the ground so long as it should be 
occupied for church purposes. The 
church was consecrated May 17, 1840, 
by Rt. Rev. Wm. H. Delancey, bishop 
of the diocese of western New York. 

The church was in size 58 by 38 
feet, including the vestibule. The roof 
in front projected from the building 
and was sustained by four large square 
pillars. A square bell tower was on 
the peak of the roof at the front. A 
bell was not placed in the tower until 
1855. It was purchased by ladies of 
the church and their friends and 
weighed about 1,200 pounds. The 
church lot was enlarged on the south 
and west sides by gift from George 
.J. Pumpelly April G, 1850, making the 
lot 58 feet wide in front and 100 feet 
deep. The church was enlarged in the 
summer of 1850. The rear of the 
edifice was cut off and a section of 
several feet in length inserted. The 
number of pews was increased. A 
Sunday school room was fitted up in 
the basement, but this basement was 
damp and was not much used. The 
changes cost about $1,000. While the 
improvements were in progress church 
services were held at Fay's hall in 
Front street. 

Further enlargement and improve- 
ments were made in November and 
December, 1856, by builders Ferguson 
and Ebenezer Tucker after plans by 
architect Charles Babcock, of New 
York city. The altar was at the south 
end of the church. There was a long 
reading desk, from which the services 
were conducted, and back of that a 
high pulpit, from which the rector 
preached his sermons. These were 



637 

removed when the church was en- 
larged in 1856, and more modern ones 
[)laced in an extension made for the 
purpose at the rear of the church. 
Transepts were built on each side of 
the church in front of the altar rail, 
making the edifice of a cruciform 
shape, in which transepts additional 
pews were placed. The partition 
which separated the auditorium from 
the vestibule under the gallery at the 
north end of the church was removed 
and the gallery was torn down. In 
the space where the vestibule had 
been twelve new pews were placed. 
The organ and choir were placed on 
a platform about four feet high be- 
tween the doors at the entrance of the 
church. Stained glass windows were 
put in place of the old ones. The 
whole whole interior of the edifice was 
improved and beautified and it was re- 
opened for public worship Jan. 11, 
1857. While the church was undergo- 
ing these improvements services were 
held at the village hall in Main street. 
Other improvements were made to the 
church in the fall of 1863 and the fall 
of 1865. 

In the spring of 1873 Richard H. 
Sackett, who had purchased the John 
H. Avery property in east Front street, 
which consisted of the ground on 
which the houses of Dr. E. D. Downs 
and Joel C. Kenyon now stand, to- 
gether with all the property of equal 
width on the south side of that street 
offered the property as a gift to St.- 
Paul's church, with the condition that 
the society should erect a church on 
the north side of the street within 
four years, to cost not less than $15,000, 
the lot on the south side of the street 



638 

to be used as a site for a parsonage. 
Between $10,000 and $11,000 were 
raised by subscription, but tlie balance 
could not be obtained. 

In the spring of 1891 the question 
of building a new church edifice was 
agitated. Tie heirs of Geo. J. Pum- 
pelly, through gift and purchase, had 
given their interest in the church lot 
to the society. A member of the so- 
ciety offered to pay for additional land 
at the west of and adjoining the 
church lot and give it to the society, 
but nothing was done in the matter. A 
year later, in April, 1892, the lot at the 
northwest corner of Main and Liberty 
streets was purchased of Mrs. S. J. 
Ogden for $2,500. The church was 
built in 1893 with money raised by 
the ladies' guild of the church. The 
architect was William Halsey Wood, 
of Newark, N. J. 

The church was built by contract by 
John T. Corchran, of this village. The 
corner stone was laid Oct. 31 by the 
rector. Rev. James H. Kidder, acting 
as bishop's deputy, assisted by nine 
clergymen from other churches. The 
consecration services were held Jan. 
2ri, 1894, Rt. Rev. F. D. Huntington, 
bishop of the diocese of Central New 
York, ofRciating, assisted by bishop 
Wm. A. Leonard, of Ohio, the rector. 
Rev. J. H. Kidder, and seventeen other 
clergymen. The church is built of 
blue stone and is 90 by 75 feet in size. 
The inner walls are of cream-colored 
brick, the floors of Georgia pine wood, 
and the pews of oak. The total cost 
was $12,800, e.xclusive of the seats, the 
heating apparatus, and the furnishing. 
The furniture, etc., were the gifts of 
various persons as memorials to de- 
parted relatives. 




ST. PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



640 

The old church was sold to Jeremiah 
Towsand, who sold the pews and tore 
down the building, which he used in 
building a house in McMaster street. 

The first rectory of St. Paul's 
church was built on land sold to the 
church by Mrs. Eliza M. Clizbe 
for 1500 March 9, 1846. The 
lot was on the west side of Academy 
street. The house was of Gothic ar- 
chitecture with a very high sloping 
roof above the first story and with a 
basement. It was sold in October, 
1861, to James P. Lovejoy, and after 
his death it was again sold in Febru- 
ary, 1866, to Dr. E. A. Mayor. Mr. 
Mayor removed the roof and in its 
place built a second story to the house 
and surmounted it with a Mansard 
roof. 

In February, 1897, the society pur- 
chased of Thomas C. Piatt for $1,600 a 
house which stood east of and adjoin- 
ing the old church, which was occu- 
l)ied as a rectory. This house had 
been rented as a rectory after the sale 
of the property in Academy street. 
It was occupied as a rectory until a 
new one was built in 1902, when it was 
sold to Charles G. Carter, who re- 
moved it to his lot on the west side of 
Central avenue. 

The present rectory was built in the 
summer of 1902 on the ground where 
the old churcn and rectory had stood. 
The architects were Bragdon & Hill- 
man, of Rochester, and it was built at 
a cost of $2,785 by John T. Corchran. 

February 2, 1842, John Redman 
Coxe, M. D., of Philadelphia, proprie- 
tor of the tract of land south of the 
Susquehanna river in the towns of 
Owego and Nichols, known as Coxe's 
patent, deeded to the rector, wardens. 



641 

and vestry of St. Paul's church a part 
of lot No. 190 m this tract, containing 
a little more than 52 acres, in trust, 
the income to be applied to the main- 
tenance of St. Paul's church so long 
as it should be a church. 

The rectors of St. Paul's church 
since its organization have been as 
follows: 

Rev. John Bailv, May, 1838-May, 
1840. 

Rev. Isaac Swart, July 26, 1840- 
March 21, 1841. 

Rev. Alfred Ix)uderback, Aug. 29, 
1841-April 15, 1844. 

Rev. George Watson, Oct. 5, 1844- 
Oct. 1, 1854. 

Rev. James Rankine, Oct. 1, 1854- 
April 7, 1861. 

Rev. Morelle Fowler, April 14, 1861- 
April, 1863. 

Rev. George D. Johnson, April 6, 
1863-April 3, 1866. 

Rev. Thomas W. Street, Dec. 27, 
1866-July 1, 1868. 

Rev. James H. Kidder, Aug. 1, 1868- 

Rev. George Watson was an Eng- 
lishman. He resigned the rectorate of 
St. Paul's church in July, 1854, to take 
effect on the first of the following 
October, having accepted a call to St.- 
Paul's church at Norwalk, Ohio. He 
died at Norwalk, Nov. 15, 1870, aged 
68 years. 

Rev. James Rankine, who succeeded 
Mr. Watson, was born in Ayrshire, 
Scotland, Nov. 5, 1827. He came with 
his parents to the United States in 
1835, the family settling at Canan- 
daigua, N. Y. He was graduated from 
Union college in 1846. He pursued 
the preparatory studies for holy or- 
ders under Dr. Williams, the rector of 
St. George's church at Schenectady, 
and when Dr. Williams was called to 
the presidency of Trinity college in 
1849 Mr. Rankine accompanied him 



642 

there, where he was at first a tutor 
and afterward assistant professor of 
mathematics. June 11, 1850, he was 
ordained deacon. He resigned his 
position in Trinity college to become 
rector of St. Paul's church in Septem- 
ber, 1854. He remained at Owego six 
years. In April, 1861, he was ap- 
pointed head of the senior department 
of the diocesan training school (now 
known as the Delancey divinity 
school) and rector of St. Peter's 
chapel at Geneva, N. Y. In 1868 he 
assumed the presidency of Hobart col- 
lege. He served two years when his 
health failed and he resigned the 
presidency and returned to his old 
position in the divinity school and St.- 
Peter's parish, where he remained un- 
til his death on Dec. 16, 1896. 

Rev. Morelle Fowler, who succeeded 
Mr. Rankine as rector of St. Paul's, 
assumed his duties April 14, 1861. He 
was a graduate of Berkely divinity 
school at Middletown, Conn. He came 
after his graduation to Owego. He re- 
mained here two years. He resigned 
in April, 1863, having accepted a call 
to the Episcopal church ajt Batavia, N. 
Y. He remained there until the sum- 
mer of 1870 when he resigned on ac- 
count of ill health and went to Salt 
Lake City to assume the pastorate of a 
church there. In February, 1871, he 
returned east, to accompany his family 
from New London, Conn., to Salt Lake 
City. While on their way to Utah he 
and his wife with their three children 
were all killed in a terrible railroad 
accident, which happened Feb. 6 on 
L..e Hudson River railroad, eight miles 
below Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in which 
twenty-one i)ersons were killed. The 
axle of an oil train broke, throwing 



543 

Uie wreckage against a drawbridge in 
face of tlie express train, wliicli 
crashed into it, tlie wiiole catching 
Are. 

Rev. George D. Johnson was born 
at Stratford, Conn., in June, 1834. He 
was a great grandson of Jonatlian Ed- 
wards, the first president of Princeton 
college, and of Samuel Johnson, the 
first president of Kings college. He 
was graduated from Trinity college in 
1854. He came to Owego from Darien, 
Conn., in April, 1863, and was rector 
of St. Paul's two years. In April, 
1S65, he went to New Rochelle, N. Y., 
where he lived until March, 1807, 
when he accepted a call to a church in 
Boston, Mass. He became rector of 
Christ church at New Brighton, N. Y., 
in 1875. At the time of his death on 
August 28, 1906, he was pastor emeri- 
tus of that church and archdeacon. 

Rev. Thomas W. Street came to 
Owego from New Brunswick, N. J., 
where he was curate of St. Andrews's 
church, and became pastor of St.- 
Paul's in June, 1866. He resigned in 
the summer of 1868. 

Rev. James Holwell Kidder came to 
Owego from Unadilla, N. Y., hav- 
ing been called to the rectorate of 
St. Paul's parish Aug. 1, 1868. Mr. 
Kidder was bom at Portland, Maine. 
He was graduated from the gen- 
eral theological seminary in New- 
York city in 1860; ordained 
deacon at St. l.uke's church, Port- 
land, the same year, and priest at 
Eastport, Maine, in June 1861. He 
was in charge of St. Thomas's church 
at Camden, Me., until November, 1860. 
and afterward of Christ church at 
Eastport about three years. Then he 
t^ntered on the rectorship of St. Mat- 



644 

thew's church at Unadilla, N. Y., July 
1, 1863. Five years later, on Aug. 1, 
1868, he became rector of St. Paul's 
church at Owego. Mr. Kidder has 
been now (1909) forty-one years 
rector of St. Paul's and has not been 
an hour out of the active ministry 
since he was ordained. 




REV. JAMES H. KIDDER. 



646 
Some Account of St. Patrick's Catho- 
lic Church, Its Property, and Its 
Pastors from about the Year 1842 to 
the Present Time. 
There were no Roman Catholics at 
Owego for several years after the first 
settlement of the village. About the 
year 1842, when the New York & Erie 
railroad was projected, laborers on the 
road, mostly Catholics from Ireland, 
came here to assist in the work of 
driving the piles, on which it was in- 
tended to lay the tracks. These piles 
were not used, but gradually decayed 
and within a few years after the road 
had been constructed to Owego on a 
solid gravel bea in 1849 they had all 
gradually decayed and disappeared. 

The first missionary through here 
was James F. Hourigan, who came on 
horseback. Rev. James V. O'Reilly, 
who was pastor of the church at 
Friendsville, Pa., and had spiritual 
charge of several missions in Pennsyl- 
vania and New York, afterward came 
here about four times a year and cele- 
brated high mass. 

August 17, 1842, Charles Pumpelly 
deeded as a gift to Right Rev. John 
Hughes and his successors in the 
ministry, in trust for the Catholic con- 
gregation of Owego, a part of village 
lot No. 29, containing half an acre of 
land, This lot, which is mentioned in 
the deed as "the Catholic church lot," 
is east of the road which extends 
north from Erie street and turns west 
up on the hill to Prospect street. This 
lot, for several years and until St.- 
Joseph's cemetery in the town of "Ti- 
oga was laid out, was the Catholic 
cemetery. 

In the deed given by Mr. Pumpelly 
the land conveyed is described as that 



647 

"lipoTi which is now beiiig erected the 
Catholic church, for a site for which 
said land is granted, to be used for 
that purpose and a burying ground 
and for no other purpose whatever." 
This reference to a church is the only 
knowledge any one of the present day 
has of any church having ever been 
built on the lot, and its existence in 
beyond the recollection of the oldest 
inhabitants. It was, probably, a smaM 
building and must have been removed 
or torn down soon afterward. There 
is a story that the first Catholic ser- 
vices were held in a small frame 
building, which stood on the site of 
the present church in east Main 
street. This is an error. 

The first regular church services of 
which anything is now positively 
known were held at the home of Davifl 
Connelly in Paige street. Mr. Con- 
nelly was a tailor, a man who was 
held in respect by the people of the 
village, and a leading man in church 
affairs. His house was on the east 
side of Paige street, the second house 
south ofEastTemple street,and is still 
standing there. Mr. Connelly lived 
there with his wife, his son, and three 
daughters. He bought the property in 
March, 183S, of Michael Conklin. He 
built a second story to the back part 
of this house, to be used as a place to 
hold religious services, access to 
whicii was obtained by a stairway, 
which he built outside the house. 
Here Father O'Reilly held services, 
and afterward Rev. Andrew Doyle, 
who was appointed pastor of St. Pat- 
rick's church at Binghamton in 1843 
by Bishop John Hughes, came here 
occasionally until May 1, 1844, when 
he was called to assist the pastor of 



648 

St. James's church in New York city. 

Rev. John Sheridan came in 1844, 
and he was the first resident pastor 
here. He was also in charge of the 
missions at Ithaca and Watkins. 
Father Sheridan remained here six 
years, and during his sojourn here, 
and mainly through his efforts, a new 
church was built. 

1 lie New York and Erie railroad 
was completed to Owego in 1849. 
While the road was building many 
Catholics came here as laborers, and 
after the road was in operation many 
others came as employes of the road 
and became permanent residents of 
Cwego. The congregation of the 
church was thereby increased to such 
an extent that it was decided to build 
a church. The ground on which St- 
Patrick's church now stands on the 
south side of east Main street was 
owned by Thomas Farrington, who 
sold it on a contract to Father Sheri- 
dan in 1848, and a wooden church was 
immediately erected thereon. Oct. 9, 
1849, the lot, which contained ()4 
square rods of land was deeded by 
judge Farrington for $545.50 to Father 
Sheridan. 

Father Sheridan was succeeded in 
August, 1850, by Rev. Michael Cree- 
don, who in 1851 was succeeded by 
Rev. P. Mallon, who officiated until 
January, 1852, when Rev. James T. 
McManus came. Rev. Nicholas Byrne 
came in December, 1858, and remained 
here two years. In 1859, during his 
pastorate the parochial school house 
was built in the rear of the church. 

Rev. Joseph Butler was pastor from 
1860 to August, 1862. He established 
the society known as the "Sodality of 
the living Rosary," the object being to 



649 
supply the altar with candles and 
Howers. In 1S68, during the pastorate 
of Rev. Francis Clark, the society of 
"The Sacred Heart of Jesus" was or- 
ganized, and in 1870 the "Children of 
Mercy." During Father Clark's so- 
journ here, from 1863 to 1871, iTiany 
improvements were made. He caused 
the church to be enlarged in the sum- 
mer of 1863. A new steeple was added 
to the edifice and a bell placed there- 
in. The convent of the Sisters of 
Mercy was instituted in 1865, the 
name of which was changed to St.- 
.Toseph's Orphan Asylum in April, 
1870, during Father Clark's pastorate. 
In the summer of 1875 about $3,000 
were spent in repairing, repainting, 
and otherwise improving the church 
edifice. In November, 1855, the house 
and lot west of and adjoining the 
church were purchased of Thomas 
bvans by the Catholic society. This 
was occupied as the parochial resi- 
dence until 1869. Aug. 30 in this year 
Richard H. Sackett sold to John Hard- 
man the house and lot west of the 
l)arochial residence, which Mr. Hard- 
man on Oct. 1 transferred to the so- 
ciety. This property is now occupied 
as the pastor's residence and the 
building betwen it and the church by 
the Sisters of Mercy. 

The cemetery lot in Goodrich settle- 
ment in the town of Tioga, containing 
four and eight-tenths acres of land and 
known as St. Joseph's cemetery, was 
purchased of Henry W. Camp Feb. 1. 
1868, for $1,000, and the old cemetery 
in this village was abandoned as a 
burial place. 

The old wooden church proving 
inadequate to the needs of an increas- 
ing congi-egation, a new brick church 




ST, PATRICK'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



o3l 
was Ijullt ill 1890. Sul)ScriptiouK to a 
fund for building the new church were 
hegun by Rev. .James Rogers about the 
,vear 1876. He collected about $4.00ii. 
to which in 1887, Rev. F. D. Johnsois 
liad added about $<3,000 more. The 
church was dedicated Sunday, Dec. 7, 
1890, by Rt. Rev. Stephen Vhicent 
Ryaii, of Buffalo, assisted by twelve 
priests from other church^es. The 
bishop preached the dedication ser- 
mon. The new church cost about 
■,$30,000. It was built by .James Sulli- 
van. It is 129 by 58 feet 1ti size, con- 
•structed of briclt and cut stone, and 
surmounted by a steeple 131 feet high. 
When Rev. John J. Sheridan assumed 
the pastorate of this church in .June, 
1899, there was an indebtedness of 
about $11,000 on the property. In the 
summer of 1'908, through his effons, 
the entire debt was paid. 

The following is a list of the resi- 
■dent pastors of St. Patrick's church 
since its organization: 

Rev. .John Sheridan, May 1, 1844~ 
August. 1850. 

Rev. Michael Creedon, August. 185i)- 
1851. 

Rev. P. Mallon, 1851-January, 1852. 

Rev. James T. McManus, January, 
1852-December, 1858. 

Rev. Nicholas Byrne, December, 
1858-1860. 

Rev. Joseph Butler, 1860-August, 
1862. 

Rev. S. Bonaventure Corney,August, 
1862-April, 1863. 

Rev. Francis Clark, June, 1863-Jan- 
nary, 1871. 

Rev. James Rogers, January, 1871- 
Ai)ril, 1877. 

Rev. John O'Mara, April, 1877-Octo- 
ber, 1883. 

Rev. Thomas D. Johnson, November, 
1883-September, 1893. 

Rev. Martin Ryan, October, 1893- 
Mav, 1895. 



652 

Rev. John J. Sheridan, June, 1899- 
July, 1909. 

Rev. George V. Bums, July, 1909- 

Rev. James T. McManus was born in 
county Cavan, Ireland, in 1821 and 
studied for the priesthood at Cavan 
college. He came to America in 1848 
and graduated from the Catholic semi- 
nary at Fordham, N. Y., in 1851. His 
first pastorate was a church in Buffalo 
He came to Owego as pastor of St.- 
Patrick's church in 1851, and also had 
charge of the parishes at Waverly and 
Ithaca. He was here eight years until 
December, 1858, when he was trans- 
ferred to the church of St. Francis de- 
Sales at Geneva, N. Y. Thence in 
April, 1862, he was transferred to the 
church of St. Mary's at Rochester, 
N. Y. Seven months later he was 
again transferred to Geneva, where he 
remained until his death on June 29, 
1890, a period of thirty-one years. In 
1886 he succeeded Rev. James M. 
Early as Vicar-General of the diocese. 
Dec. 18, 1889, he received the honorary 
title of Monseigneur from Bishop Mc- 
Quade by order of the Pope, making 
him a member of the papal household. 

Rev. Joseph Butler came here in 
1860. From Owego he was transferred 
to Troy in August, 1862. 

Rev. Francis Clark cave to Owego 
in January, 1863. Under his ministry 
the church was enlarged, a school and 
convent were established, a new ceme- 
tery was laid out, and a parochial resi- 
dence purchased. He left Owego in Jan- 
uary, 1871, to become parish priest of 
the church of SS. Peter and Paul at 
Elmira and rural dean. He was later, 
at his own request, transferred to St.- 
Ann's church at Homell. While in 
charge of that parish he fell from a 



653 
buggy and sustained a serious injury 
to his hip, incapacitating him from 
pastoral work. He died in Buffalo 
August 8, 1890. aged 64 years. 

Rev. James Rogers came to Owego 
from Buffalo in 1871. In April, 1877, 
he was transferred to the church of 
the Immaculate Conception in Buffalo. 
During his sojourn in Owego there 
was a church debt of $7,000, which he 
caused to be paid. He died in Buffalo 
Aug. 26, 1893, aged 51 years. 

Rev. John O'Mara was bom in 
county Clare, Ireland, Dec. 25, 1836. 
He was made an orphan in his youth 
and was reared and educated by rela- 
tives. He came to America when 
twenty years of age and completed his 
studies for the ministry. He was or- 
dained a priest in 1859, and afterward 
had charge of churches at Rochester, 
Buffalo, Medina, and Lockport. He 
came to Owego from Buffalo, where 
he was pastor of the church of the 
Immaculate Conception, in April, 1887. 
During his residence here he had 
charge of the parish at Newark Valley 
and caused the church to be built 
there in the fall of 1880. He died 
while pastor of St. Patrick's church on 
Oct. 27, 1883, and his body was buried 
in St. .Joseph's cemetery in the town 
of Tioga. 

During Father O'Mara's residence 
here. Rev. James Hilary Leddy was 
his assistant, three or four years. 
Father Leddy was bom in New York 
city. He went from Owego in August. 
1880, to Gowanda, N. Y., where he re- 
mained six years. He was afterward 
at Holley, N. Y., eleven years, and 
went thence to "Warsaw, N. Y., in 
August, 1878. He died at the age of 
64 years at Warsaw May 13, 1901, 



654 

from the result of injuries received by 
falling into an excavation in the Erie 
railroad depot at Lockport one night, 
while returning home from Buffalo. 

Rev. Thomas D. Johnson was pastor 
of St. Patrick's church ten years. He 
came here in November, 1883. He 
was born in county Cavan, Ireland, in 
1850, and was educated at Manyooth 
college, near Dublin. He came to 
America in 1873 and entered Niagara 
University in 1874, and was graduated 
therefrom the next year. After his 
ordination he remained for some time 
at Corning, N. Y., as a curate in Dean 
Colgan's parish. He was afterward 
pastor of the church at Lewiston, N. 
Y., and in 1884 became an assistant to 
Father Cunningham, pastor of SS. 
Peter and Paul's church at Elmira. 
Upon the death of Father O'Mara, he 
was sent to Owego. The present 
church was built during his ministry 
here. In 1890 he made a trip to his 
old home In Ireland for the benefit of 
his health, which did not imi)rove. He 
died at Elmira Sept. 17, 1893. His 
body was brought to Owego and 
buried in St. Joseph's cemetery. 

Rev. Martin Ryan was born in Ire- 
land. He came to America in 1863. 
He was ordained in 1871 at Niagara 
Falls and was afterward pastor suc- 
cessively of SS. Peter and Paul's 
church at Elmira, St. Catherine's 
church at Addison, and of St. Mary of 
the Lake's church at Watkins for 
fourteen years. He came from Wat- 
kins to Owego upon the death of 
Father Johnson. In May, 1895, he 
sailed for Ireland, having received an 
indefinite leave of absence on account 
of ill health. He never returned, 
dying there Jan. 9, 1909. 



655 

After Father Ryan's departure for 
Ireland in 1895, Rev. James Moriarty 
came to Owego to take charge of St.- 
Patrick's church. 

When Rev. John .]. Sheridan came 
here in the summer of 1899, he had 
just been graduated from St. Ber- 
nard's seminary at Rochester. He 
had been previously graduated from 
Canaisius college at Buffalo and St.- 
Bonaventure's college at Allegany, 
Pa. He was sent here from the Syra- 
cuse diocese as administrator of the 
parish pending the appointment of a 
regular pastor, and he served with 
such eminent satisfaction that he re- 
mained here ten years. In June, 1909, 
he was transferred to Syracuse, where 
he was soon afterward appointed pas- 
tor of St. Lucy's church. Father 
Sheridan was born at Binghamton. 
When he assumed charge of St. Pat- 
rick's church it was burdened with a 
debt of about $11,000, which was paid 
through his exertions. 

Rev. George V. Burns, the present 
pastor of St. Patrick's church was 
born in Buffalo, April 4, 1873. He 
was educated in Rochester at St. An- 
drews's preparatory seminary and St.- 
Bemard's seminary. He was ordained 
June 11, 1898, and was thereupon a))- 
pointed second assistant at the cathe- 
dral. Two years later he wa s a))- 
pointed first assistant and officiated 
eight and one-half years and was then 
appointed pastor of the Catholic 
church at Phelps, N. Y. While at 
Phelps he was appointed by Bishop 
Hickey as superintendent of the paro- 
chial schools of this diocese. He as- 
sumed charge of St. Patrick's church 
in this village July 9, 1909. 



656 

Some Account of the Schools for 
Young Ladies at Owego from the 
Days when Miss Juliette Camp 
Opened the Owego Female Semi- 
nary in 1828 to the Establishment 
of the Seminary in East Front 
Street, where, Among Others, Mrs. 
Belva A. Lockwood Was Principal. 

In the summer of 1815 Charles Pum- 
pelly built a large house for his resi- 
dence on the north side of Front street 
where the houses of Howard J. Mead 
and Miss Anna M. Dean are now. The 
lot was eighty feet wide on that street 
and extended back the full width to 
Main street. The house was of wood, 
painted white, and was the largest 
and most pretentious of any that had 
been built at that time in the village. 
It stood about fifteen feet back from 
the sidewalk, near the west end of the 
lot, and on the east side was a large 
yard covered with a grove of tall trees. 
Mr. Pumpelly lived in this house until 
1841, when he purchased the brick 
house in west Front street now owned 
by James Forsyth of his brother, Har- 
mon Pumpelly, and removed thereto. 
The old residence was occupied as a 
seminary and boarding school from 
1843 to 1865. 

Several years previous to this time 
Miss Juliette M. Camp, who later be- 
came the wife of Joseph M. Ely, in 
1828 opened a school for young ladies, 
which she styled the "Owego Female 
Seminary." She did not board her 
pupils, but in her advertisement she 
announced that "board may be ob- 
tained in respectable families in this 
village." 

Miss Camp had previously spent 
considerable time in an infant school 



657 

at Utica, to acquaint herself with the 
methods of teaching employed there, 
and in 1830 she converted her young 
ladies' seminary into a children's 
school, and she had between forty and 
fifty pupils. Miss Eliza S. Ripley, a 
daughter of John Ripley, was Miss 
Camp's assistant. Miss Ripley was 
several years later married to Ebene- 
zer Woodbridge and has been for 
many years living at Dixon, 111. 

In the siiring of 1843 Mrs. Mary 
Palmer, of Factory ville (now east Wa- 
verly), and Miss Eunice S. Williams 
rented the Pumpelly residence and es- 
taolished a boarding and day school 
for young ladies there, which they 
called the "Owego Female Seminary." 
Miss Palmer was principal of the 
school and Miss Williams had charge 
of the boarding department. There 
were two terms of 22 weeks each 
year, or four quarters of 11 weeks 
each. The price of board and tuition 
was $125 a year, and in an advertise- 
ment in the Gazette it was announced 
that "from country patrons a portion 
of pay for board will be received in 
produce at market prices." Day 
scholars in the elementary depart- 
ments were charged $2 a year, in the 
middle department $3.-50, and in the 
high department $5. Miss Williams 
died soon after this school was opened 
at the home of her father at Norwich, 
Conn., in October, 1843. 

Fearing, probably, that the opening 
of the seminary would be detrimental 
to the success of the Owego academy 
by taking therefrom some of the 
young ladies in the girls' department, 
the academy trustees started another 
school in opposition to that of Mrs. 



65S 

Palmer in the summer of 1843, which 
they styled the "Owego Female Insti- 
tute," and they placed at its head 
Prof, and Mrs. Joseph M. Ely. Mr. 
Ely was at this time principal of the 
academy. He had been teaching ten 
years in New York city and returned 
to Owego to assume direction of the 
academy, with the institute for young 
ladies connected therewith. 

The new female institute was not 
kept at the academy but at Mr. Ely's 
house. At the opening of this insti- 
tute it was announced that if liberal 
Itatronage should be given a new 
building would be erected the next 
year for the school. The building was 
not erected. The school was opened 
in the house that was owned and had 
been occupied by Jonathan Piatt, Mr. 
Piatt having removed to the "Vesper 
Cliff" property in the town of Tioga. 
The charge for boarders for a term of 
eleven weeks was $25 and for day 
scholars $5. 

Mr. Ely taught languages, mathema- 
tics, etc., and Mrs. Ely music and sing- 
ing. Miss P. E. Southworth taught 
French and drawing. Thomas Le- 
Clere, who was born north of this vil- 
lage and who became one of the most 
celebrated portrait painters in Amer- 
ica, gave lessons in oil painting. At 
the opening of the spring term in 1844 
it was announced that "persons will- 
ing to advance $25 and upwards in 
labor and materials toward the erec- 
tion of a new building for the institute 
next summer — payment thereof to be 
made in tuition in the institute — will 
please apply to the principals." 

Mrs. Palmer conducted the semi- 
nary in Front street six years. In the 
spring of 1849 it passed into the hands 



659 

of Mrs. M. A. Chase and Miss H. P. 
Fellows, and Mrs. Palmer went to 
Binghaniton. Mrs. Chase came here 
from Philadelphia. Her daughter, 
Miss Edith Chase, was later a teacher 
in St. Agnes's school in Albany. Miss 
Fellows had charge of the boarders 
and Mrs. Palmer was principal. They 
conducted the seminary four years. 

At the close of the spring term in 
1852 Mrs. Chase and Miss Fellows left 
the school, and on Jan. 4, 1852, Rev. 
and Mrs. George P. Porter began the 
winter term there. Mr. Porter was 
that year and the year following pas- 
tor of the Owego M. E. church. Mrs. 
Porter had been preceptress at the 
Wyoming Wesleyan seminary for sev- 
eral years. The Porters conducted 
the seminary until 1854, when Mr. 
Porter was assigned to the M. E. 
church at Waverly. 

In the spring of 1854 Miss Eliza B. 
Thomas, a cousin of Charles C. and 
Albert R. Thomas, of Owego, opened a 
school which she called the Owego 
Female Institute in the house which 
was afterward for many years owned 
and occupied by Eli W. Stone. It is 
on the north side of Front street, the 
second house west of John street. Her 
assistant was Miss Laura C. Bartlett, 
who had been superintendent of the 
female department at the Owego acad- 
emy. In August, 1855, she offered the 
property for sale, saying that she de- 
sired to have her school in a more 
central part of the village. The school 
was discontinued at about this time. 

In the spring of 1856 Mrs. Samuel 
C. Wilcox, who ha^. lived in Philadel- 
phia since the death of her husband in 
1854, returned to Owego and made an 
arrangement with Mrs. Guy Worthing- 



660 

ton, who was occupying the seminary 
building, to reopen the seminary, and 
the term began April 1, 1856, with 
Mrs. Wilcox as principal. Miss Dar- 
ling, Mrs. Wilcox's sister, came with 
her from Philadelphia and was an as- 
sistant teacher. Mrs. Worthington, 
who was the mother of the late bishop 
George Worthington, of Nebraska, had 
charge of the boarders and Mrs. Wil- 
cox was principal of the school. In 
the spring of 1857 Mrs. Worthington 
retired from the seminary and Mrs. 
Wilcox took entire control of both the 
school and the boarding establish- 
ment. Not long afterward Miss Dar- 
ling had charge of the housekeeping, 
and Miss Hall was engaged as vice- 
principal. 

In the fall of 1858 Miss Josephine 
Hosmer came from Detroit, Mich., and 
assumed the management of the semi- 
nary. Her assistants were Misses S. 
Loring, of Concord, Mass., and M. E. 
Walker, of Portsmouth, N. H. Miss 
Hosmer remained here only a year 
and in Nov., 1859, Prof, and Mrs. 
George H. Burroughs, succeeded her. 

Mr. Burroughs came here highly 
recommended by Theo. Frelinghuysen, 
president of Rutgers college, and presi- 
dent McLean, of Princeton college. 
He was a graduate of Princeton col- 
lege and had been tor some time sub- 
sequent to his graduation a tutor. Mr. 
and Mrs. Burroughs conducted the 
seminary four years. 

In the fall of 1863, Mrs. Belva Mc- 
Nall, now Mrs. Belva A. Lockwood, 
succeeded Mr. and Mrs. Burroughs 
and opened the fall term Sept. 24. Her 
assistants were Misses Anna Hurd, 
.Julia A. Osborne, and Louisa Warner. 
At the close of the spring term in 




MRS. BELVA A. LOCKWOOD. 



662 

1865, she left Owego and the seminar}- 
was peniianently closed as a young 
ladies' school. 

Since leaving Owego Mrs. Lockwood 
has attained national prominence. She 
was born at Royalton, Niagara coun- 
ty, N. Y., October 24, 1830, as Belva A. 
Bennett. She began teaching when 
she was 14 years old. Two years 
later, on Nov. 8, 1848, she was mar- 
ried to Uriah H. McNall, a young far- 
mer, of Royalton, who died there May 
11, 1853. After his death she left her 
young daughter in the care of her pa- 
rents, in order to prepare herself for 
teaching. She was graduated from 
Genesee college at Lima, N. Y., in 
June, 1857, and soon afterward was 
appointed principal of the Lockport 
union school. Four years afterward 
she took charge of the Gainsville fe- 
male seminary, where she taught un- 
til she came to Owego in 1863. When 
she left Owego she went to Washing- 
ton, D. C, where she opened a school. 
March 11, 1868, she was married to 
Rev. Ezekiel Lockwood, a Baptist 
minister, who was at one time chap- 
lain of the Second District regiment 
at Washington. Soon after her sec- 
ond marriage she closed her school 
and began the study of law. In the 
winter of 1870 she applied for admis- 
sion to the law school of Columbia 
college at Washington, but was re- 
fused on the ground that her presence 
in the class "would distract the atten- 
tion of the young men." The next 
spring she was admitted to the Na- 
tional University law school, from 
which she was graduated in May, 1873. 
in November of that year she was ad- 
mitted to the bar of the supreme court 
of the District of Columbia, and im- 



663 

mediately thereafter began the prac- 
tice of law. In 1874 she visited Texas 
jirofessionally and was admitted to 
the United States court in the western 
district. Her husband, Dr. Ivockwood, 
died at Washington April 23, 1877. In 
October, 1878, she applied for admis- 
sion to the bar of the circuit court of 
Prince George county, Maryland, and 
was refused, although she had been 
allowed previously to file a civil suit 
in the federal court of Baltimore 
county, involving $50,000. In Febru- 
ary, 1879, congress passed an act, 
which permitted women to practise in 
the supreme court of the United 
States, and on the 3d of the following 
March her application to practise was 
granted by the justices of the United 
States court. Mrs. Lockwood was the 
first woman permitted to practise be- 
fore the highest tribunal in the coun- 
try. Her first application had been 
made three years previous and re- 
fused on the ground that a fair inter- 
pretation of the rules of the court ad- 
mitted only men, and unless the cus- 
tom should become more extended in 
the states or special legislation should 
be had on the subject it could i;oi be 
done. In the national campaign of 
1884 Mrs. Lockwood was the Woman's 
Rights candidate for president of the 
United States. In the summer of 189<i 
Mrs. Lockwood and Mrs. Frances Gra- 
ham French were appointed to repre- 
sent the United States at the second 
international congress of charities and 
the second international congress for 
the protection of children at Geneva, 
Switzerland. 

The old seminary lot was sold by 
Charles Pumpelly's heirs in October, 
1874, to Thomas I. Chatfield. The 



664 

back part of the lot at the main street 
end had been sold several years pre- 
vious to Daniel L. .Tenks and Frederick 
E. Piatt and the houses built by them 
still stand there. Mr. Chatfleld sold 
the seminary lot in November, 1875, to 
Mrs. Catherine B. Deming, w^ho in 
April, 1878, sold part of it to Jefferson 
C. Dwelle, who built on it the house 
now owned by Howard J. Mead. 



Th» First Burying Ground in Owego, 
with a History of Evergreen Ceme- 
tery, Which Was Established in 
1851, and some Account of Sasana 
Loft, the Indian Girl, Who Was 
Killed in a Railroad Accident at De- 
posit, and Whose Body Lies Burled 
under a Marble Monument in the 
Highest Part of the Cemetery, Over- 
looking the Susquehanna Valley. 

The first burying ground in this vil- 
lage was at the southeast corner of 
Main and Court streets and occupied 
the land on which now stand the sher- 
iff's residence and jail, the old Acad- 
emy building, and the new county 
clerk's office. Bodies had been pre- 
viously buried at the southwest corner 
of Main and Lake streets and near the 
southeast corner of Main and Acad- 
emy streets, but they were afterward 
disinterred and buried in this burying 
ground. 

When the Presbyterian church prop- 
erty was purchased a burying ground 
was laid out at its east end in Temple 
street. People who had friends buried 
in the old burying ground caused the 
bodies to be taken up and removed to 
the new ground, and the Court street 
property was abandoned as a burial 
place. 



665 

The project for a village cemetery 
was advocated and carried through in 
1851 by William F. Warner, with some 
opposition. Mr. Warner was at that 
time clerk of the village board of 
trustees. 

The first action taken for the estab- 
lishment of the cemetery was on Sat- 
urday evening, March 8, 1851, at a 
public meeting of citizens at the court 
house, when resolutions were adopt xl 
directing the village trustees to pur- 
chase suitable land for a village bury- 
ing ground and authorizing a tax of 
$1,500 to be levied within three years, 
for the purpose of paying for the land, 
fencing it, and putting it in projier 
condition. 

There was a difference of opinion as 
to where the cemetery should be loca- 
ted, some of the people desiring that 
it should be on level ground, others 
favoring the present site on the hili 
north of the village as the most de- 
sirable, for the reason that the land 
would never be needed for any other 
purpose in case the village should 
grow to any extent and would remain 
undisturbed as a burying ground for 
many years. The hill site was finally 
selected. 

In the spring of 1851 the village 
trustees purchased of George Talcott 
a piece of eleven and one-fifth acres 
of land for |952, together with the 
right of way for a road thereto. East 
avenue, then known as "the mountain 
road," was adopted as the road to the 
cemetery for a distance of 70 rods, ax 
which point a triangular course was 
taken to the entrance to the cemetery, 
a further distance of 56 rods, making 
the entire distance from North avenue 



666 
130 rods. The road was at once laid 
out sixteen feet wide. 

Tne ground was surveyed in the 
winter of 1851-2 by Stephen Dexter, 
who laid it out into squares of four lots 
each, with a walk on two sides of 
each lot, and in March, 1852, it was 
named Evergreen cemetery. 

The first body buried in the ceme- 
tery was that of Mrs. Frank Swift, 
wife of Dan C. Swift, and daughter of 
Gideon O. Chase. Mr. Chase went to 
the cemetery and with his cane 
marked in the snow the spot where 
the grave was to be dug. 

The first keeper of the cemetery 
was Thomas P. Hall, who was ap- 
pointed in March, 1852. In January, 
1853, he was succeeded by Prince Van- 
Ness, who was keeper until his death 
in 1867. 

The cemetery was enlarged by sub- 
sequent purchases of land adjoining 
the original plot. In August, 1864, Mr. 
Talcott sold for $1,500 eleven acres 
additional land. It was further en- 
larged in December, 1888, by the pur- 
chase for $135 an acre of a strip of 
land 240 feet wide and containing ten 
and one-half acres, north of and aa- 
joining the cemetery. The next en- 
largment was in January, 1897, when 
a lot in the form of a trapezoid was 
purchased for $200 of the heirs of 
George Talcott. It was 50 feet wide 
on North avenue, about 300 feet on the 
cemetery line, and about 400 feet deep. 
The land was purchased in order to 
give people living in that part of the 
village easy access to the cemetery. 
Another addition to the cemetery was 
made in January, 1902, when the prop- 
erty of George Brown was sold at par- 
tition sale. At this sale a piece con- 



657 

taining about sixteen acres adjoining 
the cemetery was purcliased by the 
village for $910 and added to tlae ceme- 
tery. 

The Sasana Loft Monument. 

On the summit of the hill in the 
southeastern part of the cemetery 
stands the Sasana Loft monument, 
erected to the memory of an Indian 
girl, who was killed in a railroad acci- 
dent in 1852 and whose body is buried 
there. 

The Lofts were Mohawk Indians of 
unmixed blood, direct descendants of 
the great Thayendanegea (lirant), and 
they left Canajouarie, in the valley of 
the Mohawk river, soon after the 
breaking out of the revolutionar.\ 
war, and went to Canada West, where 
they settled in what was known as the 
Mohawk Woods, township of Thayen- 
danegea, on the Salmon river. 

The family consisted of a widowed 
mother, a son, and three daughters. 
The son, Rok-wa-ho Loft, and two of 
his sisters, Ya-go-weia Loft and 
Sa-sa-na Loft, leaving their mother 
and eldest sister at their Canada 
home, came to the United States, foi 
the purpose of giving concerts, the 
proceeds of which were to be used in 
educating and christianizing the Mo- 
hawk people. 

The Lofts gave two concerts in Owe- 
go in February, 1852, at which time 
Sa-sa-na, the eldest of the two sisters, 
was 21 years of age. While they were 
here judge Charles P. Avery, who 
was greatly interested in Indians and 
Indian history, became particularly in- 
terested in this family and entertained 
them at his home. 

After leaving Owego they went to 
Deposit, where they gave a concert 



66S 

February 17. The following day the 
sisters were seated in the rear car of 
a train at the railroad station, while 
the brother was buying tickets at the 
office. An alarm was given that the 
engineer of a freight train at the sum- 
mit, eight miles back, had lost control 
of his locomotive and had abandoned 
his train, which was dashing down a 
grade of sixty feet to the mile at ter- 
rific speed toward the station. Most 
of the passengers were in the station 
dining room at dinner. The two sis- 
ters made an effort to escape from the 
car. Both reached the platform. 
Ya-go-weia escaped, but Sa-sa-na fell 
back upon the car, which was almost 
entirely torn to pieces by the collision, 
and she was crushed and scalded to 
death. 

.Judge Avery caused the body to be 
brought back to his home in Owego, 
and her funeral was held February 2(i 
at St. Paul's church, Rev. James Wat- 
son, the rector, officiating. Her body 
was taken to the old Presbyterian 
church yard in Temple street, where 
it was deposited in the Avery family 
vault. It was intended by the brother 
to remove it in the following spring to 
his home in Canada, but the family 
was afterward prevailed upon to allow 
it to be buried here in Kvergreen cem- 
etery. There are persons still living 
in Owego, who remember, when chil- 
dren, walking in the procession from 
the church to the church yard, and 
have not forgotten the erect figure of 
the bereaved brother, tall and thin, 
dressed irt black, and with his long 
black jet hair falling down over his 
shoulders. 

Two days before the funeral in 
Owego the coroner's jury at Deposit 



669 
found a verdict censuring the New 
York and Erie railroad company for 
the accident. In the following April 
judge Avery took out letters of ad- 
uiinistration from the Broome county 
court ill the estate of the deceased, 
his object in this proceeding being to 
obtain in behalf of the next of kin the 
amount of damage which the statute 
authorized and the circumstances of 
the case rendered equitable. Judge 
Avery gave his services free, as he 
had previously given his hospitality. 
The railroad compromised suit Sep- 
tember 20, 1852, by paying to the In- 
dian family $2,000, all of which amount 
was afterward religiously expended in 
the publication of useful books in the 
Mohawk language for the education 
and christianization of the Mohawk 
people on the Canada reservation. 

In May, 18.52, some of the ladies of 
Owego originated a movement to ob- 
tain funds by subscription, with which 
to erect a monument to the Indian 
girl. They did not accomplish any- 
thing. In the fall of the same year 
the ladies of Auburn, Albany, Bing- 
hamton, and Oxford raised $109.75. 
Two years later, March 24, 1854, judge 
Avery, at the request of a committee 
of gentlemen delivered a lecture at the 
court house on "Tioga County and Its 
Early History," to raise funds to finish 
paying for the monument. The 
amount realized from the lecture was 
$34.2 (. 

These amounts, with interest, in 
May, 1855, amounted to $165.61. The 
monument was erected that month at 
a cost of $201.58, the difference being 
afterward paid by the ladies of Owego. 
The monument, which was worth at 
ordinary prices from $350 to $400 was 



670 

famished at cost. It is a pure white 
marble obelisk, standing seventeen 
feet above the surface of the ground, 
with bases of veined marble, on a sub- 
base of blue granite fourteen inches 
thick and three feet square, resting 
on a pier of solid masonry, carried up 
five feet from a rock foundation and 
laid in cement. It overlooks the Sus- 
quehanna valley, standing in full view 
of the village on the highest point in 
Evergreen cemetery. On the front or 
obverse side are the words: In mem- 
ory of Sa-sa-na Loft, an Indian 
Maiden of the Mohawk Woods, Can- 
ada West, who lost her life in the 
Railroad Disaster at Deposit, N. Y., 
Feb. 18, 1852, aged 21 years." On the 
reverse is a handsomely executed de- 
vice — a single wild rose, with stem 
broken and a leaf gone. On the west 
side is this inscription: "By birth a 
daughter of the Forest; by adoption 
a child of God." The body of the In- 
dian girl is buried at the foot of the 
monument on the east side. 

In 1852, a pamphlet was published 
at Hamilton, Canada, which contained 
among other things a poem by the 
poet, W. H. C. Hosmer, entitled, "La- 
ment of Sa-sa-na." 

Owego and Oswego. 

The similarity of the names, Owego 
and Oswego, has always been a disad- 
vantage to this village. The name of 
Oswego.on account of Oswego's greater 
size and prominence, being better 
known, business men at Owego have 
been as a consequence subjected to 
frequent annoyance, expense, and loss, 
on account of letters and goods having 
l)een misdirected or missent to Os- 
wego. For this reason there has been 



671 

at various times some talk of having 
the name of Owego changed by legis- 
lative enactment, but sufficient inter- 
est has never been taken in the mat- 
ter to bring about the desired change. 

For some inscrutable reason some 
of those who have been seriously in- 
convenienced by the similarity in the 
names have manifested opposition to 
any change.when such change aas been 
suggested.thinking perhaps that a tem- 
porary derangement of affairs for a 
short time until the new name should 
be generally known in the business 
world would cause them some annoy- 
ance. But this would have been only 
temporary. 

In addition to this unimportant ob- 
jection there was some disagreement 
as to what should be the new name 
for the village. The original Indian 
name was Ahwaga, of which Owego is 
a corrupt spelling. Some of the peo- 
ple have objected to the name, Ah- 
waga, but without apparent good rea- 
son, as it is a smooth name to pro- 
nounce and means something, while 
Owego is commonplace and meaning- 
less. 

If an Indian name is desirable none 
more musical in its sound could be 
found than Canawana, the Indian 
name by which the western part of 
the village has always been known, 
.ludge Avery in his Susquehanna Val- 
ley papers says that Ca-ne-wa-nah, or 
Canewana, as it is now known, was 
in the Seneca dialect "Ne-wa-na Ca- 
noeush," meaning literally "little liv- 
ing water." It was so named from the 
sjjring known as the Indian 
spring, situated a little west of the 
Owego creek, at the northern base of 
the cliff, north of the Main street 



672 
bridge. The present name is obtained 
by the arbitrary transposition of 
syllables. 

In case a change of name should 
ever be decided upon no name more 
musical in its pronunciation, nor none 
more appropriate, could be selected. 
There is no village of that name in 
the United States, and its adoption 
would obviate all the annoyance and 
unpleasant conditions from which 
business men have been so long sub- 
jected. There has never been any 
serious objection to a change, and 
that there has never been any change 
in the name of the vihage is owing to 
the apathy of those most directly in- 
terested. 



Errors Corrected. 

In the hurry of publishing these 
papers in a weekly newspaper there 
were some typographical errors in 
I)rinting which were overlooked at the 
time and are here corrected: 

Page 9. The name of Ephraim 
Wood appears twice, first as having 
come here in 1789, and again in 1799. 
The correct date is 1799. 

Page 20. The name of Selecta 
Draper was written Electa Draper in 
the Avery manuscript of Mrs. Caty 
Harris's statement, and so printed. 
The name is correctly given on page 
12. 

Page 25. The name of the father 
of Col. David Pixley's second wife is 
given as Joseph Patterson and on 
page 28 it is printed James Patterson. 
Joseph Patterson is correct. 

Page 32. The date of John M. Mc- 
Quigg's removal from Owego to Spen- 
cer should be 1808 instead of 1898. 
The date of Capt. John McQuigg's 



673 

death should have been prhited 1804 
instead of 1813. Capt. McQuigg is 
said to have fought In the battle of 
White Plains Oct. 28, 1776. The date 
of the removal of John M. McQuigg 
from Owego is misprinted 1898. It 
should be 1798. 

Page 33. Daniel McQuigg, the 
Ithaca merchant is said by his widow 
to have been a nephew instead of a 
son of Capt. John McQuigg. 

Page 55. Samuel M. Avery in the 
second line should read Samuel W. 
Avery. See page 118, where it is 
printed correctly. 

Page 84. The words, "Married Ann 
S. Gregory in 1810" should read, mar- 
ried Ann S. Gregory, bom in 1810. 

Page 96. The name of Matthias H. 
Hollenback should have been printed 
Matthias Hollenback. 

Page 121. The date in the first line 
should be 1804-5. 

Page 152. H. A. Mead should read 
H. J. Mead. 

Page 193. A. B. Gere should have 
been printed I. B. Gere. 

Page 200. Edward R. Warner 
should be Edward W. Warner. 

Page 653. Rev. John O'Mara came 
to Owego in April, 1877, instead of 
18S7, as printed. 



Index 



Acnclfiiiy 561 

Agard, Rev. Hoi'iite fill 

Alanson Dean's tavern 4.S0 

Allen, Elias :50i> 

Allen, Ebenezer 30!l 

Archibalrl, Alvah H 301 

Archibalil, Alinoii W 3(H 

Archibald, James 300 

Archibald, Sanuiel A. .. .301, 30.') 

.Vrinstrong. Francis 324 

Armstrong-, Daniel 325 

Avery, Charles 1* 124 

Avery, John II 120 

.A. very, Samuel 117 

Avery, Sanniel \V '. IIS 

Babeoek, Samuel 305 

Backus, Ebenezer 466 

Bacon, Geors;e 155 

Bands 486 

Bailey, Hev. .(olui 635 

Balcam, Henry A 572 

BaMwin, Cul. TIk.s 3S0 

Barclay, Dr. Saum.l 201. 106 

Barstow, Chas. If 548 

Bartholomew, Hev. ('. M.... 605 

Bartlett, Capt. Isaac 113 

Bartlett, Joseph 114, 116 

Bartlett, Robert 114 

Bartlett, Rev. Wm. Alvin... 50!) 

Bates, Capt Luke 461 

Bates Tavern 460 

Beebe, Hiram A 549 

Beecher, Rev. Jas. C 602 

Beers, .\bner 140 

Beers, David 142 

Beers, Dr. Lewis 141 

Belcher, Col. Elijah 373 

Belcher, Col. Jo.sepli 372 

Bell, Wm. H 07 

Berry, Joseph 1 6S 

Blanchard, Thos 30!) 

Boeek, Leopold, J 570 

Bosworth, Jo.seph S 154 

Bridge 553 

Brown, (apt. Lemuel 6!» 

Bulkley, Rev. Chas. H. A... 602 

Bullock, Rev. M. 604 

Bundy, Elisha 168 

Burlinghani, Rev. A. 11 630 

Burns, Rev. Geo. V 655 

Burton, Rev. R. E 631 

Burrows, Latham A 266 



Buryiui; urounds 664 

Butler, Rev. Joseph ....648, 652 

Caldwell, James 306 

Caldwell Row 306 

Camp, Gen. Anson 184 

Camp, Col. Asa 370 

Camp, Geo. Sidney 184 

Camp, Dr. Henry 180, 406 

Camp, Herman 186 

Camp, Juliette M 656 

Camp, Nathan 184 

Camp, William 175, 3!J7 

Carder, Rev. Jas. D 634 

Cameron, James 272 

('aineron, John 272 

Cameron, Robert 272 

Carmichael, Jolm 252 

Cemeteries 664 

Central House 473 

Chase, Gideon 47!I 

Chatfiehl, John R 182 

Churches Presbyterian 573 

Congregational .... 5!)2 

BaptLst 617 

St. Paul's Episcopal 634 

Methodist 606 

St. Patrick Catholic 646 

Circuses 503 

Clark, Rev. Francis 652 

Clark, Ezra S 484 

Clark, Rev. S. A 590 

Cobb, Rev. Solon 590 

Coburn, Charles .\ 568 

Collier, Hamilton A 104 

Collier, John A 104 

Conklin, James 325 

Conklin, Jacob 325 

Corning, Rev. Wm. H 598 

Co.v, Rev. Sanni'l Hanson.... 589 

Crandall, Rev. L. A 631 

Croton House 481 

Cruger, Gen. Daniel 60 

Curry, Col. B. B...16!), 374. 481 

Cushman, Richard E 173 

Dana, Eleazer 108, 546 

Davis, Col. N. W 375 

Dean, Alanson 480 

Dearborn, Asa 326 

Deforest, Ira 465 

Deforest Tavern 4(i4 

Dodd, John 315 



Di-akc, John It 1!»1 

Uraper, Aiiius 10 

Draper, Josei)h 13 

Druniiiion(), A. M 571 

J)uane, Thomas 55 

Eastman, Dr. Hiram N 374 

Kdick, Phihi 1' 572 

Ely, Elisha Sfi 

Ely, Col. Daniel 87, 547 

Ely, Dr. Elisha S2 

Ely, .lames Sfi 

Ely, Joseph M 183, 56!l, fio.s 

Ely, William A 85 

Everest, Charles 11 601 

Fay, Cha.s. P 2o<i 

Fay, Freil'k J 205 

Fay, Georf^e W 205 

Fay, Dr. Jedediah 201,546 

Farrin^ton, Thomas 124 

Female seminary 656 

Fires 402 

'Vlciiiim;, ('apt. David 3.S3 

'■ Fleming-, Gen. liolit. L 384 

^-Toi-syth, Elisha 74, 70 

Fovsyth, Gilbert 78 

Fox. Capt. Sylvamis. . . .171, 316 

Fowler, l!ev. Morelle <142 

Franklin House 460 

Frelinghnysen, Theo 154 

Gear, Rev. Ezekiel 635 

Gee, John 327 

General Trainings 386 

Gere, Isaac B 100 

Gill, Rev. Wm. H 501 

Goodman Coffee House 468 

Goodrich, Gen. Ansel 2oi» 

Goodrich, David 211 

Goodrich, Erastus 211 

Goodrich, Eliakim 206 

Goodrich, Geo. B 120, 211 

G Ivieh, Xoah 206 

(Jnidd, liev. Samuel M 6o0 

Granger, Rev. \V. A 632 

Greek, Abraham 316 

Greenleaf, John M 284 

Griffing:, Rev. John 610 

Grist Mills 330 

Griswold, Theophilus L 571 

Hall Shows 511 

Hall, Rev. Samuel H 500 

Hand, .Jacob us 

Hay, Rev. Philip C 588 

Hay, Theodore F 570 

Headley, Isaac 1i 231, 560 

Hewitt, (lurdon 2S1 

Holleuliaek. (Jeorge W 06 



Hosmer. Josephine 660 

HosuH-r. w. 11. r 12:; 

Hotels 45N 

HudK>n Kou.se 4s5 

Huntinston, George M 20s 

Huntington, Jared 206 

Ihuitington, Ceii. ( )li\-er . . 8,s, 371 

Huntington. Wait T Oo 



\- Ow( 



Kailn.a. 



(•has. Fi 



336. 



.lohnsoM, Iv'obert Charles. .336, 343 

.Inlmson, l!ev. Tli.is. D 654 

Jones, David 545 

Jones, Frank L 55o 

Kidder, Rev. Corl.in r,lis 

Kidder. Rev. James H 64:; 

Kile.;, Kev. W. H 630 

Kingsley. Vine 30s 

Laning, (Jen. Jolm l:;o. :171 

Laniiig Tavern : . . . . 466 

Lake Strwt House 470 

Leach, Caleb 4(; 

LeClere, Thomas 7 7 

Legg's Temperance Hotel 4,s:; 

Lelaml, Ziba A 272 

Lillie. Isaac 317 

Lillie, John H 320, 400 

Lockwood, Belva A 6(i0, 662 

Leonard, George S 210 

Leonard, Hermon C 21 o 

Leonard, Stei.hen 15 212, 4:;o 

546, 54 7 

Leonard. Wm. B 21,s 

Lombard. Uev. Horatio 57!i 

Loring. Rev. Daniel 577 

Lovejoy, Dr. Ezekiel 150 

Mack, Kbenezer <i.>^ 

Maek, Iboace 68 

Ma<'k, Stephen <i4 

McCormick, Col. Henry 276 

McCormiek, .Iac<.b M 27,v 

iMcCormick, Major Joseph... 270 

MacKenzie, Rev. A. C 50 1 

McManus, Rev. Jas. T 652 

McN'all, Mrs. Belva 660 

McMaster, James 14 

Mc(^iigg, .lessc .'M 

Me(>>uigg, Capt. John 30 

Madan, Ezra S 200 

Mansi.m House 482 

Martin. Col. .\mos 2-<7 

Martin, John S 2!Mi 

Marsli, liev. Dwiglit \V 6tl4 



Mathews, Gen. Vincent 381 

Matson, Thoiniis, .Ir 333 

Matson's Mill 333 

Maxwell, Guy 131 

May, Rev. Hezckiah 57it 

Meacham, Kra.stiis 298 

■Menagerie 501 

Military History 365 

Moshcr Tavern 472 

Muzzy, W. H 480 

Nesus. Hev. M. K 632 

Niohols, Thos. M 344 

Noble, Chas. C 183 

Gijilen, Charles 323 

Os'den, Isaac H 310 

Ojr.len, .Tehial 323 

Oirden, Joseph 322 

C'den, Walter 323 

O'Mara, Rev. John 653 

Ostrander, Rev. L. A 501 

Owejjo Hotel 464 

Owego and Ithaca Turnpike. . 340 

Owejfo and Oswego 670 

Paige, Dr. Joel S 293 

Pai^e, Anson F 295 

Pai^e, Thos. L 296 

Park, Capt. Thos 75 

Palmer, Mrs. Mary 657 

Parker, John M 156 

Parker, Col. F. II 157 

Parlver, Charles K 157 

Parmenter, Elilui 85 

Patterson, Col. .lohn 25 

Pcarne, Rev. Wni. 11 616 

Peck, Ezra J 572 

Peek, Rev. P. H 627 

Phelps, Dr. K. H 180 

Pinney, H. I) 204 

Pitcher, I). M 551 

Pixley, Col. David 22 

Pixley Tavern 459 

Pixley Mill 331 

Porter, Rev. Geo. P 616 

Post Office 545 

Post-Riders 427 

Piatt, Charles 227 

Piatt. Kred'k E 231 

Piatt, Jonathan 220 

Piatt, Thos. C 232 

Piatt, William 228 

Piatt, -William II 230 

Presbyterian Churdi 573 

Prindle, Jos. A 571 

Pumpelly, Charles 152, 463 

Puinpelly, George J 15o 

Pumpelly, Harmon 163 

Pinipelly, Janus 1 45 



Pumpelly, John 135 

Pumpelly, Josiah C 150 

Pumpelly, Prof. Raphael 161 

Pumpelly, William 158 

Putnam, Rev. .\aron 585 

Railroad House 484 

Rankine, Rev. James 641 

Ransom, Charles 233 

Ransom, Printice 233 

Ransom, Samuel 234 

Ransom, William 235 

Raymond, W. P 478 

Raynsford, Edw 200 

Reed, Gen. John Meredith... 165 

Reed, James M 475 

Reeves. David Wallis 171, 490 

Reeves, Lorenzo 166 

Reeves, Ezra Warren 170 

Reeves. Tapping 170 

Richardson, Elias 265 

Ripley, John 253 

Robb, A. J 571 

Rock wood. Col. Samuel 373 

Rogers, Rev. James 653 

Ross, Major Horatio 105 

Rugg, Joseph K 231 

Ryan, Rev. Martin 654 

Sackett, Col. Caleb H 260 

Sackett, John J 265 

Sackett, Nathaniel 260 

Sackett, Col. Richard 260 

Sackett, Richard II 265 

Sasana Loft Monument 667 

Scofield, Rev. W. C 604 

Seminary 656 

Seymour, Elias W 316 

Sheridan, Rev. John 648 

Sheridan, Rev. John J 655 

Shoemaker, Col. Elijah 371 

Skinner, Chas. P 232 

Smyth, Wni 552, 570 

Soldiers of 1812 390 

Stage Coaching 428 

Steamboats 393 

Stebbins. Charles 550 

Stone. Wm. P 249 

Storrs. A. P 181 

Stoddard, Gen. Oringh 380 

Streets 348 

Strong, Stephen 188 

Sweet, Ezra S 255 

Sweet, Chas. H 259 

Talcott, Charles 128 

Talcott, Elizur 126 

Talcott, George Lord 126 

Taverns 458 

Taylor. Daniel (J 1<»0 



Taylor, John J 134 

Taylor, Col. VVni. (' KM), 289 

Teller. Rev. D. \V 605 

Tenney, Jonathan 571 

Theatres 514 

Thurston, George W 270 

Thurston, David 2G,s 

Thurston, Col. Jas. S 270 

Tinkham, David V 45, 100 

Tinkhani, Geo. Standish 45 

Tinkham, Dr. Samuel 42 

Tioga County House 47(i 

Tobey, Capt. John .1 402 

Town Clock <i20 

Truex, E. H 250 

Truman, Asa H 240 

Truman, Aaron 244 

Truman, Benjamin h 250 

Truman, Charles L 24:^ 

Truman, Edward D 24H 

Truman, George 247 

Truman, Lucius 242 

Truman. Lyman 247 

Truinati. Lvtiian Park 245 



Truman, Capt. Sheni 239 

Truman, Stephen S 248 

Turner, David 223, 224 

Tyler, Rev. Moses Coit 600 

I'nited States Hotel 484 

Vose. Rev. Riley A 633 

\\n]<U>, Dr. (Jodfrey 251 

Warner, lliraiii (! 010 

Warner, Wui. F Ill 

Washburn's Indian Show .... 508 

Watson, Rev. Geo 641 

Wattles, Capt. Mason 51 

Western Hotel 484 

White, Archibald 84 

White, Rev. Charles 586 

Whitney, Caijt. Joshua 382 

Whittelsey, (!en. H. M 258 

Wilcox, Rev. S. C 589, 597 

Wilcox, Mrs. S. C 659 

Williston, Rev. Seth 573, 588 

Woodford, Bissell 314 

Woodford, Ira 314 

Woodford, Romeo 312, 314 



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SEPT 68 

J*' N. MANCHESTER 
INDIANA 






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